Death Close and Far
by robinartemiselfhood
Summary: Draco Malfoy and Tess Wilford are mortal enemies, but will that change when Malfoy accidentally hits her with the deadly "Sectumsempra" curse?
1. Chapter 1

TESS

"Hey," Tess greeted one Monday morning, her mouth full of food as her friend Lilix sat down next to her. "What's up?"

"Let me just tell you," Lilix said, "I hate that Malfoy character." She looked across the Great Hall at the pale-skinned Slytherin, who was laughing with an evil expression on his face. "He hates me even though I'm a pure-blood."

"If he hates you," Tess said darkly, "he must triple-hate me. If possible." She deftly speared a bite of scrambled eggs and added idly, "The slimy git."

As she glared at him, Malfoy looked across at her and mouthed _Mudblood_.

Lilix saw it, for she leapt up with an angry expression. "That evil—"

Tess pulled her back down into her seat. "Drop it, Lil. I didn't even know what Mudblood meant until a few days ago; it's not all that insulting."

"It is to me," Lilix hissed.

Tess laughed. "I can mutilate him easily in any duel, Lils. If he ever actually tries to pull his wand on me, I'll be ready."

They high-fived, and Tess felt glad she was in Ravenclaw. Anywhere but Slytherin.

But her feeling of happiness vanished as soon as she pulled out her sixth year school schedule. "I've got Herbology, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts with him!"

Lilix, who was in her seventh year, grimaced. "Thank God I'm always pared with Hufflepuffs of my year."

"You're so lucky," Tess groaned. She stood, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you later, I suppose."

And she filed out of the Great Hall with all the other sixth year Ravenclaws, down to the dungeons for Potions class.

She was packing up when she heard his sneering voice, but it wasn't aimed at her. She shoved her last quill into her bag and glanced towards the front of the classroom. Professor Snape had disappeared. Tess pulled her wand out of her robes but hid it behind her as she headed for the door.

Malfoy was holding Lucy Patrick's bag above her head, his eyes glinting maliciously. "Come on, Mudblood. Get it."

Lucy jumped, but Malfoy lifted the bag as she did so, and she didn't reach it.

Tess walked up to him. "Hey, _Malfoy_, could you move? You're blocking the door."

All heads in the classroom whipped towards them, watching eagerly for the brawl that was sure to happen.

"Not until this thing gets her bag." Malfoy smirked as the small girl tried again.

Tess pointed her wand at him. "Put it down, Malfoy."

He looked a little nervous, but didn't lower the bag.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_" Tess bellowed. Her Patronus, a snow leopard, sprang from her wand. Malfoy screamed, dropped the bag, and ran down the hall, wailing, "Professor Snape!"

"What is going on?" Snape's voice drawled from behind Tess. "Malfoy, come back here."

"I thought I saw a dementor behind him, sir," Tess said, stowing her wand in her robes. She glanced at the Potions master apologetically. "My mistake."

Malfoy slunk up behind her and shoved her out of the way. "Professor, Sir," he gasped. "This Mudblood tried to curse me!"

Even Snape couldn't favor Malfoy this time. He looked down his beaked nose at his pupil, his eyes narrowing to black slits. "That was a Patronus Charm, used for defending against dementors and Lethifolds and sometimes carrying messages. Now, out of my way, I have an hour of break away from you nasty children and I want to spend as much time alone as I possibly can."

With that, he swept off down the hall, muttering curses under his foul breath.

As soon as the teacher was gone Malfoy shoved Tess up against the wall and glowered at her. "You will _pay_, Mudblood," he snarled.

Then he strode after Snape, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, his cronies, trotting in his footsteps.

Lucy shot Tess a grateful glance and hurried away. Tess sighed, dusted off her robes, and checked her schedule. Next up was, thank goodness, Care of Magical Creatures, with Hufflepuff.

Rubeus Hagrid normally taught, but for some reason he was absent and a different teacher, Professor Grubbly-Plank, was there instead. Tess didn't complain; Hagrid's classes normally involved dangerous creatures. Today it was unicorns, giving her time to think as she stroked the beautiful creature's nose (which would only accept a woman's touch, said Professor Grubbly-Plank).

After the lesson she approached the new teacher. "Excuse me?"

"Yes?" Professor Grubbly-Plank said.

Tess cleared her throat. "I was wondering if we're going to learn about thestrals, Professor." She held her breath.

"Thestrals?" Professor Grubbly-Plank exclaimed. "Thestrals. No, I'm afraid not, Miss . . ."

"Wilford," Tess supplied.

"Ah, yes. Thank you. I have to say, we will not be learning about thestrals when I am teaching, but if you'd like I will recommend them to Professor Hagrid when he returns. Now," she added, raising her voice for the whole class to hear, "homework! Read up on unicorns and their restorative healing powers, what happens when one drinks their blood, and how they got their horns. Class dismissed."

Tess followed her year up to the greenhouses for Herbology, dreading seeing Malfoy again. Class passed relatively well, for she was on one end of the greenhouse and he was on the other; but just to spite him she sent the Muffliato spell in his direction, so when he messed up, no one could hear him scream. Then she bent back over her Venomous Chomping Willow sapling and tried not to let it bite off her fingers.

Tess groaned, her head narrowly missing her mashed potatoes, as Lilix sat down beside her. Instantly her friend was on alert. "What's wrong?"

Tess recounted her encounters with Malfoy, finishing off with a despairing, "He knows it was me, I'm going to _die _sometime in the next week."

Lilix grinned. "Not Friday; that's the day we get to go home for summer break. What do you suppose your parents will get you as their welcome-home present?"

Tess lifted her head and fought off a smile. "I hope they get me a Firebolt," she said fervently. "Then I can try out for Ravenclaw seeker, because Cho Chang won't be playing next year."

Lilix shook her head. "What is with you and Quidditch?"

"It's my favorite sport," Tess protested. "I used to like American football better, I was an astounding quarterback, and baseball too, but—"

Lilix held up her hand. "Then you got the Hogwarts acceptance letter and your American football days were over, blah blah blah. I've heard the story sixteen million times."

Tess plucked an orange from the bowl of fruit in front of her and tossed it into the air. "I could hit Malfoy with this." She felt a wicked expression creep across her face, mirrored in Lilix's. "Should I?"

Lilix glanced at the dais where the long table for the professors, but it was empty; no teachers sat there. "I don't know . . . you could get detention for it. . . ."

"Do it," someone hissed in Tess's ear. She looked around and saw one of the Weasley children—Ron, was it?—leaning across the gap between their two tables. "Do it, I'll take the blame; the git gets what he deserves."

Lilix gasped, but her eyes were bright.

Ron got to his feet, ignoring Hermione Granger and Harry Potter, who were asking what he was doing. "I'll even pose—"

"No, I'll take the blame," Tess agreed. "But when he stands up. Knocking him out would be overkill."

"If you insist," Ron muttered, glaring dourly at the Slytherin table.

Tess gripped the orange. "Should I use a starfruit?"

"Sounds dangerous, whatever it is," Ron said, leaning over her shoulder to look in the fruit bowl. "So definitely."

She exchanged the fruits. Malfoy stood.

Tess rose also, aimed, and threw. It soared over the Hufflepuff table, causing heads to follow its trajectory, then curved as it reached the Slytherin table, and hit Malfoy right in the stomach. He doubled over. Tess dropped into her seat and shoved mashed potatoes into her mouth, assuming a shocked, puzzled look. Inwardly she cheered. Her American football/baseball skills were still in tune. She swallowed and took a sip of pumpkin juice in satisfaction.

Then Malfoy straightened, glowering in her direction. He did nothing, aside from mouth: _What did I tell you after Potions, Mudblood? Now you've got to pay double. Triple for casting the Muffliato spell on me in Herbology. Try anything in Defense Against the Dark Arts and you're dead._

Tess smiled. _I'd like to see you try to kill me, scumbag._

It was after dinner, and Tess had not done anything having to do with Malfoy since lunch, but she still felt like she was going to be hit when she least expected it. She looked around as she was climbing the stairs to the top of Ravenclaw tower. Nothing. She tried to shake off the uneasy feeling.

She walked up to the entrance to the eagle knocker and it said, "What am I?"

Tess was about to answer when a sickeningly familiar voice shouted, "A Mudblood!" Someone slammed into Tess, effectively tackling her. She flung an arm up to protect her head, as was important when playing American football and being sacked by an offensive lineman who managed to get through the defensive line.

"What'd I tell you, Mudblood?" Malfoy hissed, his rageful face inches from Tess's. "You'll pay."

Tess bunched up her legs underneath his chest and pushed him off, rolled backwards to her feet, and barely managed to block the hex Malfoy sent at her with a Shield Charm.

"_Stupefy_," she shouted.

"_Protego_," Malfoy bellowed. Her spell glanced off his shield and hit the eagle knocker.

"_Densuageo_," Tess yelled.

"_Tallantallegra_!" Malfoy roared.

The spells clashed between the two of them and bounced off in all directions.

"_Lacarnum_ _Inflamarae_!" Fire burst from Tess's wand right after she shot _Densuageo_ at Malfoy, and he wasn't prepared. His robes caught fire. "_Aguamenti_," he spluttered. Water shot from his wand and doused the flames.

Crabbe's voice behind Tess screeched the Leg-Locker curse, but she spun and dispersed it with a Shield Charm before shooting a spell back at Malfoy. If all of her opponents were in one direction or the other, she would have a much better chance—

She deflected Malfoy's spell, cast _Rictusempra _at Crabbe, making him drop to the floor laughing, for _Rictusempra_ was a tickling jinx, and spun back to Malfoy, who had been joined by Goyle. Tess tried out a wordless spell. It worked.

And then she was battling two people at once, and Goyle was edging around to Crabbe, and he somehow figured out how to lift her hex, and then she was fighting three people, just barely managing it, and her wrist was starting to hurt from all the complex movements of the complex spells and hexes she was using.

"_Petrificus_ _Totalus_," she hollered, casting her wand at Goyle, and simultaneously thinking _Expelliarmus!_ at Crabbe. Crabbe's wand flew out of his hand and hit the stiff-as-a-board Goyle in the eye, then somehow got beneath Goyle as he fell. Crabbe's wand broke. Crabbe let out a wail.

"_Silencio_," Tess yelped, and Crabbe continued to wail, but no sound was made.

Suddenly ropes lashed themselves tightly around Tess. She recognized the spell as _Incarcerous_ instantly, even though Malfoy had said nothing. He was a better pupil than she thought. She pointed her wand at him with difficulty and blurted the first spell that came to mind: "_Locomotor Mortis!_"

His legs snapped together and he fell over. He pointed his wand at her. "_Serpensortia_!"

A snake burst from his wand with a bang and slithered towards her. Tess wracked her brain for the spell that made it disappear. She'd heard Professor Snape use it—she'd looked it up in case this moment ever came—but what was it—

The snake reached her and reared.

"_Vipera_ _Evanesca_," Tess cried desperately. The snake vanished. She let out a sigh of relief. No snake bites today.

Suddenly she was lifted into the air by an invisible force, her head narrowly missing the floor. She still managed to get Malfoy back with the same spell, _Levicorpus. _He shot into the air also.

She pulled herself up with her stomach muscles. She knew Malfoy wouldn't be able to do that, and he'd let her down and expect her to let him down.

"_Liberacorpus_," Malfoy gasped a minute and a half later. Tess's muscles had been trembling from holding herself up for so long. She landed on the floor so hard she felt her skull would split in two. But, try as she might, she couldn't get her wand pointed at Malfoy.

"You need to untie me," she told him, trying not to laugh at the sight of his purple face. He choked out the countercurse. "_Liberacorpus,_" Tess declared. She climbed to her feet and held out her wand, ready to block any spell he shot at her. But Malfoy merely cast a disgusted look at her and slipped down the staircase.

Panting, Tess went to the eagle knocker.

"What has a foot but no leg?" the eagle asked.

"A ruler," Tess answered quickly, glancing behind her. Malfoy was standing on the steps just out of sight from where she'd been, his gray eyes watching her with a calculating look. Tess's heart lurched; her stomach shot into her throat. She leveled her wand at him.

But all Malfoy did was watch her, even when the door opened and offered the Ravenclaw common room to him. She stepped inside and shoved the door closed, then turned and sank against it, her arms splayed as if to stop anyone from entering, breathing hard.

_I'm probably not going to do any homework tonight,_ Tess thought. She trudged towards one of the dark blue armchairs beside the fire and sank into it.

The door creaked. Tess leapt up, whipping out her wand, but it was only Lilix. She looked astonished. "Did you see what happened out there? Looks like a battle happened less than five minutes ago."

_It did,_ Tess thought. She kept this information reserved, though. "I didn't notice. Listen, I think I'm going to retire early. . . ."

Lilix looked at her with a concerned expression. "You didn't fight Malfoy out there, did you? I passed him on the way down and gave him a hard time about being up here . . . I didn't know Slytherins knew where our tower was . . . what would he be doing up here anyway? Can't be lost, this place isn't on the way to anywhere."

Tess sighed. "Yes, I fought him. No, neither of us won," she added before Lilix could say anything. "Crabbe and Goyle are terrible fighters, they barely can perform a Shield Charm."

Lilix's eyes widened. "You didn't fight all three at once?"

Tess shrugged.

"You should tell Professor Flitwick," Lilix squeaked. "He'd give them a detention they'd never forget—"

"And that would prolong the conflict between me and the git," Tess interrupted, "and though fighting one person is fun, fighting three to ten people can't be. Even fighting Malfoy and two stupid gits like Crabbe and Goyle—that was hard. So no, I'm not dying to go to Professor Flitwick. Sorry."

She stormed past the fireplace, past the enormous curving bookshelf, and behind the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, then up the stairs to the dormitory she shared with a few other girls. One of them, Jenn, who was a sort-of friend, noticed her sulky expression and said: "Are you okay? What happened to your arms?"

Tess realized that her sleeves had been shoved up her arms and were showing burns from the ropes Malfoy had set on her. She yanked her sleeves down. "Just a tussle with the Venomous Chomping Willow saplings today."

Jenn probably knew that there had been no tussle with the Venomous Chomping Willow saplings in Herbology, but she said nothing about it, just slid into bed. Tess did the same after changing into her pajamas. She pulled the hangings around her bed closed and slept.


	2. Chapter 2

DRACO

That Wilford girl was going to get him so angry he couldn't speak, one of these days. He didn't understand why Professor Dumbledore continued to let those Mudbloods into the school. "Hogwarts is tainted," he muttered.

"Tainted?" said Goyle. "How so?"

Draco sneered. "Don't you know anything, Goyle? No, of course not; you can't even read."

"Can too," Goyle said quietly.

Draco ignored him. "It's Dumbledore. He's the worst thing that's ever happened here—_and, _he continues to let those half-bloods and Mudbloods in."

"The school wouldn't be big without half-bloods and Muggle-borns," Crabbe said from where he was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling grumpily.

"It's _Mudbloods,_ Crabbe," Draco barked, almost before Crabbe had finished talking. "Mudbloods, not Muggle-borns. Ugh. And you're right, sort of. It wouldn't be big, but it also wouldn't be _contaminated_." He crossed his legs and leaned against the armrest of the couch he was half-sitting, half-laying on. "Contaminated. . . ."

He sat there in silence, brooding angrily and partly waiting for Goyle or Crabbe to speak. Finally Goyle broke the quiet. "Should we do our homework?"

"You do mine, Crabbe," Draco said absentmindedly.

"I'm Goyle," Goyle said.

"Whatever," Draco snapped. Goyle got up and headed to the dormitories for the trios' bags.

He returned shortly and sat down at a nearby desk to begin.

"Oh, hang on," Draco said. "I don't want you doing my homework, you have grades worse than Hufflepuff, and that's saying something." He got up and went over to the desk. "My homework."

Then, sighing, he retreated to a different desk and began.

"That Wilford girl," Draco hissed at breakfast the next day. "She's not in her usual seat. What happened to her?"

"Maybe she got sacked," Crabbe said eagerly.

"Yeah, maybe she was _fired_," Goyle said, just as eagerly.

"You idiotic _gits_," Draco groaned. "Only teachers can get sacked, and sacked and fired mean the same thing! Sometimes I wonder—"

"Hi, Draco."

"Hi, Pansy," he said to Pansy Parkinson. She slid into the seat across the table from him. "So, Draco . . . we have Double Potions today . . . with that Wilford Mudblood. What do you think of it?"

"Professor Snape said I didn't have to do it," Draco said. "I'm going to practice a Patronus Charm."

"Oh, good luck," said a too-familiar, sarcastic voice behind him. "You need a happy thought to cast a Patronus, Malfoy, and I'll bet, living with parents like yours, that you only have one happy thought, and that's getting away from them."

Draco shot up and spun, drawing his wand; Tess was smirking at him. He raised his wand.

"Draco, not in front of the teachers," Tess said in a perfect imitation of Pansy Parkinson's voice. "You don't want to get in trouble, do you?"

She raised her eyebrows, then walked down the length of the table. Draco pointed his wand at the bottom of her robes and muttered, "_Lacarnum Inflamarae!_"

Her robes caught fire.

A jet of water soared from the Ravenclaw table and soaked her—instantly Tess looked at the hem of her robes, then shouted, whipping her wand out at Draco: "_Flipendo_!"

He flipped over backwards, into Goyle, but recovered fast. "_Furnunculus_!"

Tess made a shield and his hex bounced off, hitting Pansy Parkinson in the face. She screamed and fell backwards off the bench.

"Goyle," Draco yelped, dodging one of Tess's spells—the Great Hall was in chaos—teachers were shouting—students were yelling, having formed a circle around the duelers that the teachers couldn't get through—cheering—egging Draco and Tess on—

_Tallantallegra! Serpensortia_, Draco thought. His first jinx bounced off Tess's shield, but the second produced a snake.

"_Vipera Evanesca_," Tess cried instantly.

Draco sent ten snakes at her, then tried to Stun her.

"_PROTEGO_," bellowed Harry Potter, pushing through the people surrounding the duel and blocking the Stun, which unfortunately bounced off his shield and hit one of the Slytherins in the crowd. Potter pushed Tess out of the way, hissed at the snakes, and shot a spell at Draco, who dodged it and retaliated. The snakes were now coming his way—

"Vipera Evanesca," Goyle's voice screeched ten times, and all the snakes disappeared.

"I've got Crabbe," howled Weasley, jumping in front of Tess and trying to hex Crabbe, who ducked and bull-charged the redhead—Draco had forgotten that the oaf had lost his wand. Weasley abandoned his wand and punched Crabbe in the face so hard the Slytherin did a complete flip. Weasley shook out his fist, then doubled over as Crabbe's head his stomach.

_This can't be happening,_ Draco thought, blocking one of Potter's spells.

Goyle sprang up on his other side and yelled, "_Expelliarmus_!" at Potter; but the Granger Mudblood was there, a murderous look on her face and her hair blowing back with the force of the spells she was casting.

Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw a now-boil-less Pansy Parkinson sneaking through the crowd to get to Tess—but apparently one of the Ravenclaws saw her, because they screamed, "TESS!" just in time for the Mudblood to block Pansy's spell.

It was a four-on-four battle and Draco knew he was going to lose. So, to even things out a little, he ground out the spell Potter had used on him a few weeks ago. "_Sectumsempra_!"

"_PROTEGO HORRIBILIS,_" Granger shrieked, waving her wand at the space in front of Potter. Draco's spell bounced off—

—and hit Tess.

She screamed.

Draco dropped his wand in surprise, then joined it on the floor as he dodged one of Potter's spells.

Tess was lying on the floor, bleeding uncontrollably. Her face was the picture of pain; there were several gashes on it, and mirroring ones on her torso. The crowd cleared a path for the teachers, Dumbledore in the lead, followed by a murderous looking Snape. Dumbledore crouched next to Tess. Snape made a beeline for Potter, Weasley, and Granger. "My office. Now," he told them in his cold voice. Then he turned to Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy. "Same with you. Stay there until I come. GO."

Somehow Draco was lined up next to Potter as they trudged towards the dungeons. Harry said nothing—neither did Draco.

Finally they reached Snape's office. The Mudblood and Pansy sank into the two chairs in front of Snape's desk, Pansy touching her face every five or so seconds as if she felt like there were still boils on it. Weasley put his hands on Hermione Granger's shoulders, looking troubled. Crabbe and Goyle started hitting each other, trying to fight out which one would get Snape's chair.

"Why?"

Draco looked up, meeting Potter's famed green eyes, which were hard. "Why what?" he said, his voice harsh.

"Why did you use that spell? You know firsthand what it does." Potter put his wand in his robes, which were missing six inches from the hem.

"None of your business, Saint Potter," Draco said angrily.

"She could _die_," said Granger, turning to face him, her face distorted with anger. "That Ravenclaw—"

"Tess," interjected Weasley.

There was a loud _thud _and a scream from the direction of Crabbe and Goyle.

"Could die from what you did to her," Granger continued. "And you were aiming at _Harry_! You could be expelled!"

"The only reason she was hit was because of your Shield Charm, Mudblood," Draco found himself saying. "So it's not _my _fault, it's _yours_. And if I'm getting expelled, I'm taking you with me."

Hermione burst into tears. Weasley shot a glare at Draco, who ignored it.

Potter took a step towards Draco. "You know, Draco, I'm getting tired of you insulting and antagonizing my friends."

"Ooh, boy," Draco said, taking on a Victorian-era-frightened-lady-tone, "a threat from Scarhead. Whatever shall I do? Someone help me!" He put a hand to his forehead.

"Why, you—" Harry lunged, grabbing the front of Draco's robes and shoving him up against the wall.

"Potter!"

Harry let go and spun. Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore were standing in the doorway. Snape and McGonagall looked irate—Dumbledore, however, looked furious and enraged. He was a terrifying sight.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, and it would have been better if he'd yelled. Draco felt himself slouching, not wanting to be looked at. "What, Mr. Malfoy, do you hate so much about a Muggle-born student that you would bring yourself to use Dark Magic upon her?"

"He wasn't aiming at _her_," Granger said, standing in vexation. "He was aiming at _Harry_!"

"Is this true?" Dumbledore said to Draco.

Draco felt himself melting under the stares of everyone in the room, including Crabbe and Goyle, who had stopped their brawl the second Snape had entered the room. "Yes, it's true," he said.

"MY!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. "Albus—"

"It wouldn't have hit Tess if she—" Draco pointed at Hermione "—hadn't put up a Shield Charm!"

"What Charm did you use?" Snape asked Granger.

"_Protego Horribilis_," Granger said in a small voice.

McGonagall gasped.

Dumbledore surveyed the room. "I could have you expelled for such a large usage of Dark Magic," he said idly to Draco, who held his breath.

"But," said Dumbledore, "that would make your father kick me off the school board, I am afraid, and that would be most unfortunate for this school. So, consider yourself suspended over summer break, and you will have a month's work of detention with Professor McGonagall. Then I hope that you will have paid dearly for your actions." He gestured for McGonagall and Snape to exit. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and Slytherin for each person, also, for dueling in the open, let alone at all. All of you are excused from classes today. Oh, and Draco—"

Draco looked up from where he was eyeing the stone floors.

Dumbledore smiled. "Let's keep this hush-hush, shall we? Don't forget to apologize to Miss Wilford."

He swept out of the room, humming.

Pansy Parkinson spat on the floor. "What a bumbling old bat."

Suddenly three wands, all of different hues, were pointing in her face. Potter, Weasley, and Granger were all on their feet, glaring murderously at Pansy.

"Never," snapped Potter loudly.

"Insult," growled Weasley, a little louder than Potter.

"PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE," Granger shouted.

Draco sighed. _I suppose I've got to interfere,_ he thought with resignation. "Parkinson, shut up."

Pansy stared at him, hurt filling her brown eyes. Then she burst into tears and ran from the room.

The Gryffindors stared at him.

Suddenly feeling very embarrassed, Draco said, "She's getting annoying," and walked from the room. He climbed the stairs out of the dungeon.

"Wait!"

He turned, ready to curse, but it was just Crabbe and Goyle. "Where are we going? Don't we need to stop in our common room for our stuff?"

"Of course," Draco said.

"Then where are we going?" Goyle took on a more-confused-than-normal look.

"Didn't you hear Dumbledore?" Draco half-yelled, exasperated. "I've got to go apologize to the Mudblood, might as well do it now!"

"Holy crap," he heard Weasley's voice say stridently. "D'you hear that, Harry? Malfoy's actually apologizing to someone other than his mucus-filled parents, the git! Call . . . uh, what's that world records place, Hermione?"

"Guinness," Granger said.

They were coming up the stairs. Draco shook his head, disgusted, and kept going up to the hospital wing.


	3. Chapter 3

TESS

She woke up slowly, coming out of an empty blackness worse than a starless stretch of oxygen-deprived space. But as soon as her eyes opened she gave a great gasp, for her face, chest, arms, and stomach ached like ice and burned worse than fire. Through the haze of mixed pain she gathered that she was in the hospital wing.

"Easy, easy!" Madam Pomfrey bustled over with a glass of water, a large bar of chocolate, and a vial of brown stuff that looked like mud, without the bumpiness. She picked up a small hammer, broke off a few pieces of chocolate, and handed them to Tess, who started on eating them.

The nurse took the brown sludge, tipped a little onto her fingers, and spread it on Tess's face where it hurt, soothing the pain. "I can stop it from scarring your face," she said, "but not anywhere else. If Dumbledore hadn't been there, you wouldn't be here. I hear that Malfoy character did it?"

Tess choked, bolting upright. "He what?" she gasped through the chocolate.

"He used the Dark Magic that caused this," Madam Pomfrey.

Tess sank back down onto her pillows. "I don't remember. It was chaos."

"Any four-person duel would be," Madam Pomfrey agreed. She finished spreading what Tess now knew was dittany and corked the vial. "He wanted to come in a few hours ago."

Tess choked again. "You didn't let him—"

Madam Pomfrey scoffed. "Of course not! Do I look like a bad nurse? I said you weren't allowed to have visitors until two days from now."

Tess nodded. "Could you make an exception? Not for him, for my friend Lilix. She's a seventh year Ravenclaw—"

Madam Pomfrey sighed, but nodded. "I'll send for her."

When she made no move to do so, Tess persisted. "Could you do it now? Like, with a Patronus or something?"

"My Patronus is non-corporeal," Madam Pomfrey informed her patient stiffly.

Tess looked around for her wand, and, seeing it lying on her bedside table, snatched it up. Before she could begin casting the Patronus Charm, though, the nurse seized her wrist. "No. You may not do that in my hospital wing after such a large level of damage done to your body."

Tess tried to pull her wand hand away but couldn't. "Why not? I'll be fine. It's not _trying_, casting my Patronus—"

Madam Pomfrey wrenched Tess's wand from her hand and stowed it in her robes. "You must rest," she commanded. "Lilix should be here when you wake up."

Tess pushed herself into her pillows and watched resentfully as the hospital wing's matron stalked away before trying to go to sleep.

In her dream she was watching her own funeral.

She woke with a start and a short gasp. A creak alerted Tess to another presence in the darkened room. Her hand flew to the bedside table, where Madam Pomfrey must have put her wand. "_Lumos_," she whispered. The tip of her wand lit up, but she could barely see the end of her bed. "_Lumos Maxima_," she tried. The entire room lit up, showing an empty hospital wing.

"_Finite Incantatem_." Tess breathed out the spell that stopped all active spells in the area. There was a muffled curse and someone hissed, "_Ron!_"

"_Everte Statum_," Tess said, pointing her wand at the place where the voices had come from. It was as if the air rippled, there was a giant thud, and suddenly she could see two pairs of shoes.

_They have an Invisibility Cloak,_ Tess realized. Focusing on the "empty space" above the shoes, she growled, "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" and pulled her wand up. Suddenly she could see Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, both lying on the floor, in the midst of having a whisper-argument. They didn't even notice when the Cloak was lifted off of them, or if they did, they ignored it.

"Hi," Tess said.

The two scrambled to their feet, drawing their wands.

"Remember me?" Tess went on. "Did you wander in here accidentally?"

Hermione dusted off her clothes. "Of course we remember you."

"Yeah, how could anyone forget this morning?" Ron said.

Tess's wand started to go out. She picked up the glass of water, drained it, and put her wand tip into it. "_Incendio_. So—" she took her wand out and put the glass back on her nightstand "—what brings you to the hospital wing?"

Hermione glanced at Ron. "Well—you see—"

"Ginny got hurt," Ron said shortly. "In the fight. She wasn't fighting, but one of Goyle's messed-up jinxes rebounded and hit her."

"Ginny's his sister," Hermione explained.

Tess swallowed. "I'm sorry . . . what happened to her?"

"She lost her voice," Hermione said, "her teeth vanished, and she has dog hair all over her face. Plus she kind of smells like rotten eggs. Madam Pomfrey must have moved her . . . she's not here."

Tess was about to reply when the door was flung open and Harry Potter charged in, looking absolutely furious and kind of wacko because he didn't have his glasses on, but he had a large bruise on his forehead. "Hermione Granger—"

"It wasn't my idea," Hermione squeaked. "It was Ron—"

"RONALD WEASLEY," Harry roared.

"_Muffliato_," Tess murmured, pointing her wand at Madam Pomfrey's office door.

"HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY INVISIBILITY CLOAK AND USE IT TO COME DOWN AND SEE A RAVENCLAW—"

"I'M NOT VISITING _HER,_ I'M VISITING GINNY, YOU FOUL FACED GUINEA PIG! IF YOU WEREN'T SUCH AN IGNORANT GIT, YOU'D KNOW THAT SHE GOT HIT BY ONE OF GOYLE'S DAMNED JINXES—"

"She did?" Harry said, suddenly looking very concerned. Tess glanced at Hermione, who looked like she was trying not to smile.

"YEAH, YOU SLOBBERING DEMENTOR! SHE'S IN HERE WITH NO TEETH AND NO VOICE AND HAIR ALL OVER HER FACE, BUT NO—YOU THINK THAT I'M VISITING WILFORD! ARE YOU MENTAL? AND DO YOU REALLY THINK I'D BRING HERMIONE WITH ME IF I WAS COMING TO SEE HER?" Ron pointed at Tess. "YOU ARE LITERALLY THE STUPIDEST GIT I'VE EVER MET, YOU—"

"_Silencio,_" Hermione suddenly said, making Ron lose his voice. He kept mouthing until he realized that he couldn't hear his voice and glared at her.

"I hear someone," Tess said, holding up her hand.

"Under the Cloak," Hermione ordered, lowering her voice. "Tess—"

"Pretend I'm asleep," Tess finished. "_Finite Incantatem_," she added, falling backwards against her pillows. The abrupt movement made her chest and stomach flare in pain so much that she squeaked, but the small noise was lost amongst the scuffling of three people fighting for room under the Invisibility Cloak.

Ron regained his voice, the fire in the water glass vanished, the light from Tess's wand went out, and the Muffliato spell dissipated. Professor Flitwick hurried into the room, followed by Snape. The two heads of houses looked around the room.

"There's nothing here," Snape said.

"I could have sworn I heard shouting, though," Flitwick squeaked.

"You must have heard wrong." Snape cast the Charms teacher a cold look and swept out of the room.

Flitwick glanced at Tess and followed the hook-nosed man out.

"_How many times do I have to tell you, young man? _Theresa Wilford is not accepting visitors!_ ESPECIALLY NOT YOU!_"

Tess jackknifed upright at the sound of Madam Pomfrey's especially loud voice. The hospital wing matron was standing a few feet from the end of Tess's bed, her arms spread wide like she was bodily protecting her patient.

"Who's that?" Tess asked.

Her query went unnoticed. Madam Pomfrey whipped out her wand and jabbed it at the unseen target of her rage. "Get out. Out! OUT! _NOW_!"

Mumbling, not Madam Pomfrey's voice. It sounded vaguely remorseful and male.

"I DON'T GIVE A MONKEY'S BOTTOM WHAT ALBUS DUMBLEDORE SAID TO YOU, YOU LYING, SCHEMING, DEMENTOR-FACED MUTILATOR! GET _OUT!_"

Professor McGonagall rushed into the room, her wand in one hand and her other hand holding onto her hat. "Madam Pomfrey, please! Let's not frighten the students!"

Madam Pomfrey pointed a shaking finger at the offender. "He no longer counts as a student! He is a Death Eater! Don't deny it, Minerva, I've seen his arm—no, don't reprimand me! This—this—_thing_ has been trying to get in here to 'apologize' to Miss Wilford for the past twenty-four hours, but he's really trying to get in here with her alone so he can FINISH HER OFF! DEATH EATER STYLE!"

McGonagall gasped. "Poppy! Not in front of the students!"

Madam Pomfrey drew herself up to her full height, but when she spoke, her voice was quiet. "Do you know Death Eater style, Minerva? I think you do. I've had to treat it once too many times. I know what it is. He'll perform the Cruciatus curse on her until she goes insane like—well, you know. He'll cast whatever terrible spell he did the first time and watch her bleed until her life is hanging on by one thread, and then he'll—"

"THAT IS ENOUGH, POPPY!" McGonagall shrieked. "One more word and I will throw you out of your own hospital wing!"

Madam Pomfrey went silent.

A third voice spoke. "Look, I think I'll just go now, Professor . . . I didn't mean to cause so much trouble, I just wanted to apologize, Professor Dumbledore told me to and so I figured I'd do it now. . . ."

Tess tried to speak, but she was so shocked that she couldn't. Draco Malfoy was trying to apologize? And he sounded sincere!

"Oh, no," Professor McGonagall said quietly. "You're not leaving until two things happen: Madam Pomfrey apologizes for accusing you of something so large, and Theresa wakes up so you may properly say you're sorry."

McGonagall looked severely at Pomfrey, who sighed and muttered something Tess couldn't hear.

"Good," McGonagall said cheerfully (or as cheerfully as she'd ever get), reminding Tess of Dumbledore. "You may go now, Poppy."

Tess forced herself to lie down and close her eyes.

"How about I wake Tess for you?" Madam Pomfrey sounded forcedly polite.

"How about you do that," McGonagall agreed.

"_Rennervate,_" Pomfrey said, and there was a flash of red light that Tess could see behind her eyelids. Knowing that this was the reviving spell, she stirred.

"That will be all, Poppy," McGonagall said. There was a rustling of skirts, and a door slammed with bitter intensity. Tess opened her eyes, then closed them. "Go away," she murmured, except she made it sound more like "gmfur fmaw", because she figured that was what she would do if she was actually waking up.

_I look like a zombie, I'll bet,_ she thought suddenly. _Crud._

_Since when do I care? It's Malfoy._

_Yeah. It's _Malfoy_, the guy who will taunt you endlessly and mercilessly after seeing you as a zombie in the morning._

She opened her eyes again and shrieked.

Malfoy looked more like a zombie than she most likely did. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was completely messed up, along with his robes. He even looked paler than normal. At the sound of her yelp, he jumped visibly and didn't bother to try and hide it.

"You look like an Inferi," Tess blurted.

"Thanks," Malfoy said.

Tess sensed a new opening for her to mock him. "Wowwied about de poor wittle Mudbwood, aw you?"

"Why on Earth would I be worried about you?" Malfoy said, with an attempt at a sneer. It came out as a sort of grimace.

"Apologize, Draco," McGonagall said sternly, making the former stare at his shoes.

Finally Malfoy glanced at Tess. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Tess said fiercely. "Ripping me open with Dark Magic and scarring my face? Oh, bub, it's gonna take a lot more than apologizing to make me come even close to partly forgiving you."

"I believe in miracles," Malfoy said.

"Oh, really?" Tess challenged. "I do too. I believe that it's a miracle you're going to live through the day. You probably should also."

"_Miss Wilford_," McGonagall broke in. "That is enough. Malfoy, _out_."

Malfoy stared at Tess, his gray eyes making her feel like he was staring into her soul. "Yes, Professor," he replied at last. He turned on his heel and walked out.

McGonagall gave Tess a deeply penetrating look and followed the Slytherin student.

As soon as she was gone Madam Pomfrey rushed out of her office. "I was afraid he was going to do something," she muttered to herself. "Silly me, hmm? Oh, yes, silly me indeed."

Tess stifled a laugh.

"You," Madam Pomfrey said to her. "You are being released today, but be very careful."

"What is today?"

"Wednesday," the nurse snapped. "You will have to wear Muggle clothing for a full year, whether you're at Hogwarts or not. The school robes are made of a fabric that will tug on your scars and potentially open them." She snorted dryly. "It took me ages to seal those up properly, and if they open when you're in the Muggle world you will most certainly die."

"But I heard Professor Dumbledore saying a countercurse," Tess protested.

"That helps," Pomfrey confirmed, "but it doesn't completely heal you." She shook her head. "And to think, just a few weeks ago, that boy was suffering from the same thing. . . ."

Tess nodded.

"Frankly," Madam Pomfrey continued, "I'm surprised he didn't lose his status as prefect."

Tess nodded again, not knowing what to say to this.

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand. Suddenly Tess was wearing black jeans, a black tank top, and a white jean jacket. When she swung her legs out of bed to stand, she had white combat boots on her feet.

"Keep the clothing," Madam Pomfrey said. "I suggest you go to the Headmaster's office. The password this week is Jelly Slugs. Off you go now, and don't trip over anything."

Tess took her wand from the table and exited the hospital wing, somewhat stiffly. She went to the Ravenclaw common room and checked her schedule. Defense Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin was due to start in ten minutes. _I really don't think I can make it,_ she thought. She waited out forty-five minutes by imagining humiliating Malfoy in front of the entire school. Then she crept down the halls to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and waited in the darkened doorway of one of the nearby rooms.

Soon enough, the class filed out. Malfoy was one of the last. Tess started working up her courage, but then a passing Ravenclaw saw her. "Tess!"

Malfoy spun, but his minions dragged him down the hall. The Ravenclaw that saw Tess was Lilix. "I can't believe it," she said. "You're out already! Do you feel okay?" And she squeezed Tess into a hug.

"OW," Tess shouted, as fire and ice lanced throughout her torso. "Please let go, Lilix."

"I'm so sorry," Lilix gasped, letting go instantly. "I didn't realize!"

"Lilix, come on, we'll be late," said another seventh year. Tess recognized him as Lilix's boyfriend (of course Lilix denied it, but the entire school knew that they were dating), Garfield.

"Look, I'm really sorry," Lilix said, "but I have to go, Tess. You should head down to the Great Hall and wait for lunch."

As soon as she had gone, Tess whispered, "_Expecto Patronum_," and her snow leopard leapt out of her wand. "Go to Malfoy's dorm and wait until he gets back to relay this message," she instructed. "'Thanks to you, it hurts to breathe.' Got that?"

Her snow leopard did a funny sort of nod and bounded down along the hallway. "Try not to be seen," Tess called after it.

Just before it plunged around the corner, it paused to whisk its long tail.

Then it was gone.

Tess headed off in the direction of the Great Hall. She couldn't help but feel as though Lilix had brushed her off to go to class. Truthfully, she thought she'd be the popular one, at least until the Hogwarts Express left for Platform Nine and Three Quarters at King's Cross; but so far she'd been swatted away like a fly by her best friend.

_She needed to go to class._

_She could have been a little bit nicer! Look at Malfoy, he actually turned around at the sound of my name, he wouldn't have brushed me off—_

_Oh, so Lilix has sunken to such depths that you're comparing her to Malfoy? The guy who calls you a Mudblood at every turn?_

_Lilix has never defended me when Malfoy's called me a Mudblood. She's a pureblood, I think she actually thinks of me as a Mudblood also!_

_Only one more day, you'll never see her again._

_Right, because she's a seventh year! Last year at Hogwarts . . . Hoggy Warty Hogwarts._

Tess walked into a pillar, setting her face aflame, and cursed wildly, so much that her mother would have shoved a soap bar down her throat if she'd heard it. She stepped around the pillar.

Where was she, anyway? She'd gone down a few too many steps of stairs, and now she seemed to be in front of a stack of barrels. It was the Hufflepuff entrance. One had to tap one of the barrels in a certain rhythm or be doused in vinegar. Raising her eyebrows, Tess backed into the same pillar that she'd walked into, giving herself a splitting headache along with the fire on her face. Stumbling blindly, she somehow made it to the Great Hall and collapsed onto one of the tables' benches. She clutched her head in her hands as rage washed over her. Malfoy had done this to her.

Well, sure, she'd walked into that pillar—but if it weren't for Malfoy, she wouldn't have a face-fire _and _a headache, just a headache.

The pain faded over the course of the next half-hour, and the following thirty minutes were spent plotting how to get back at Malfoy and cause him the pain that he'd caused her. Without getting caught. Or accused. If she was careful, she might get away with blaming it on another person she disliked (she was happening to be thinking of Lilix at that moment, then realized Lilix wouldn't be here next year), and Malfoy would blame Tess, but all the signs would point to the disliked person.

"'Believe in miracles,'" she quoted, thinking of one of her favorite Coldplay songs.

Suddenly she jerked upright. _I believe in miracles._

Did Draco Malfoy, the evilest little twit in the school, listen to _Coldplay_? Like, _the_ Coldplay?

She devised a plan.

Just as she was adding the finishing touches to her scheme, the Great Hall was flooded with students, all talking and chatting in groups of twos, threes, and fours. They filed to their separate houses' tables, and with a start, Tess realized she was sitting on one of the Gryffindor table's bench.

She hopped up. "Sorry."

The first year she'd apologized to stared at her in fear, and she suppressed a sigh. Was one of her scars showing? She adjusted her jacket, gave the first year a reassuring smile—at which she thought she heard a squeak of fear—and moved towards the Ravenclaw table.

What _did _she look like, anyway? Hopefully she didn't seem too scary. Where were all her scars? She touched her face. There was a small ridge on her jaw, near her left ear, and one on her forehead. Those must be scars.

"Hey, looking good," Hermione Granger said as she passed.

"Yeah," Ron Weasley added, following Hermione. "You could be Harry's twin if your hair was a bit darker."

"Ha ha," Harry said. He punched Ron on the shoulder. "I love it when you make fun of my scar, Ron."

"Anything to be of assistance," Ron grinned.

Hermione leaned over to Tess. "He's teasing."

Tess raised an eyebrow. "Is he really? I never would have guessed." She smiled and joined the Ravenclaws, finding herself next to Cho Chang, the current seventh year Seeker for the Quidditch team, and a pale-blond haired fifth year who had radish earrings and a dreamy expression.

"Uh, hi," Tess said.

Cho glanced at her, then went back to her food.

"You must be Theresa," the blond said.

"Erm. Tess."

"Tess, sorry." She was reading a magazine upside down and eating what looked like pink rabbit fur. "I'm Luna Lovegood."

"What's that?" Tess blurted, pointing at Luna's food.

"Cotton candy," Luna answered. She pointed at a golden bowl of the same stuff. "It's sugar that melts in your mouth. A Muggle delicacy. You should try it."

"Maybe another time," Tess hedged. She looked down the table. Lilix was sitting at the end with Garfield, her head on his shoulder. Jen was not there.

Tess sighed. She was stuck between the strangest and saddest Ravenclaws ever to exist. Yippee.

She waited about ten minutes into lunch to kick-start her plan. She waved her wand under the table and the Coldplay song _Violet Hill_ started playing. The Great Hall had excellent acoustics. She looked over at Malfoy. He was mouthing the words, and when the guitar started, his head bobbed in time to the beat.

Luna looked up from her cotton candy. "This is a good song," she said, and started singing along. She had a nice voice and was on pitch.

"Muggles are good at singing," Tess agreed.

The other students, however, disagreed. Several from each table got up and ran out of the room, shouting things like "Disgraceful" (a prefect) and "I'm getting Professor Sprout" (a Hufflepuff).

Luna looked at Tess. "Did you start it?"

Tess nodded absentmindedly. "Testing Malfoy." She flicked her wand. The music stopped abruptly. Malfoy looked at the ceiling fast, then at Tess. All he saw, though, was Tess reaching across Luna to get the cotton candy, a confused but grateful expression on her face.

This she made sure of.

The next morning, Tess lugged herself down to the Great Hall for one last meal as a sixth year. It felt weird to be wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and the new jacket she'd gotten yesterday, not school robes. Then she headed down to the Hogwarts Express and found a compartment with Lilix. Just as the train started moving, Garfield entered the compartment. "There you are, Lils! I thought you'd been left behind."

Tess got up, and, taking her trunk with her, she found an empty compartment. There she dug out a spellbook and tried to read.

_You won't have to deal with Lilix and her ignorance next year. . . ._

_Still have to deal with _Malfoy_ though._

Tess slammed the book shut, moved closer to the window, and stared at the passing scenery. Of course she was grumpy. Who wouldn't be, in her position? Last day at Hogwarts for three months, no friends in school or at home, and in a year, she'd be making this trip for the last time.

"It's all a very sad state of affairs," she murmured.

Home.

When she thought of home, was home with her parents, or was home Hogwarts? At Hogwarts, sure, she had to learn, but learning was fun.

With her parents, and her two sisters, however. . . .

Alexa and Sadie, the twins, were both older than her, and they taunted her nonstop for being a witch. They were like girl versions of Malfoy.

Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy.

"I prefer Draco Malfoy to Alexa and Sadie," Tess said, "believe it or not. I actually prefer Draco Malfoy to my own sisters. Draco Malfoy, who calls me Mudblood at every turn."

She shook her head. "Good Lord. Malfoy."

There was a tap on the glass. Tess whipped around. It was the Honeydukes Express trolley, manned by the plump, friendly witch. Tess got up, opened the door, and bought some Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, and a large slab of Honeydukes chocolate. It came with a small hammer. Tess smiled wryly, unwrapped the bar, and hammered off a small piece. She set the other sweets on the bench.

A ginger-haired prefect passed, followed by a girl with light brown, slightly bushy hair. She was yelling at him.

"That's Hermione," Tess said softly, through the calming piece of chocolate in her mouth. She tucked her legs up onto her seat, wondering how she'd managed to get a compartment to herself, when the Hogwarts Express was normally so full.

A pack of second year Hufflepuff girls burst into her compartment, giggling loudly. They froze when they saw Tess, who instinctively shoved her chocolate so that she was in between it and the second years.

"Is it true?" one of them interrogated.

"Is what true?" said Tess, vexed.

"You have a scar on your forehead like Harry Potter's," said another eagerly.

"Can we see?" asked a third.

"I—" She didn't even finish her sentence before she was crowded by girls, all dying to get a look. She felt her new white jacket get smushed up against the chocolate and stifled a curse.

"HEY!"

The second years all fled to the corner opposite Tess. Malfoy was standing in the doorway with a murderous glare on his face. "Out," he said coldly, stepping aside to let them pass.

They all looked at one another.

There was a loud bang—all the second years screamed. Malfoy was holding out his wand, but other than a slight haze of smoke, nothing in the compartment was wrong. "Out," Malfoy repeated.

The second years scattered, darting past Malfoy like a school of fish. Tess pulled out her wand and shed her jacket, examining it for chocolate stains. There was a big one right at the small of her back. She lifted her wand.

"You good?" Malfoy asked.

Tess dropped her wand, lunged for it, and nearly stepped on it in the process. When she finally reclaimed it, Malfoy was sitting on the seat opposite her with a smile on his pale face. Tess pointed her wand at her jacket and murmured, "_Scourgify_."

It became its normal stark white.

She met Malfoy's gray eyes. "Thank you."

"You didn't answer my question," Malfoy said.

"What question?"

"Are you okay?"

Tess glowered at him. It didn't feel very sincere, though. "I've been split in two by a certain someone, and pieced back together, I feel like I'm leaving my somewhat broken soul at Hogwarts, and yes, it's missing pieces because they were lost when I was split open, and I don't want to leave Hogwarts to go back to my freaking ugly and antagonistic sisters, I'd rather be the victim of your stupid spell three hundred times over than go see them again, be called a Mudblood, and sent to Azkaban with no wand to defend me form the dementors when they perform the Dementor's Kiss!—but sure, Malfoy, I'm okay!"

She blinked back tears.

Malfoy looked stunned. "Things are that bad?"

Tess nodded.

"You could stay with me," Malfoy blurted.

What was with him? He was trying to be helpful, trying to be nice—was this the actual Malfoy, or a clone of him? "Because that would be way more fun," she said, looking at the floor.

"To me it sounds better than living with your sisters," Malfoy said.

"Living with my sisters would be ten thousand times better than living with you," Tess hissed.

"That's not what you said."

"What?"

"Hey, call me Draco."

Tess jerked her head up to stare at him. "What did you just say?"

Malfoy got up. "Never mind. See you next semester." He paused at the door. "When's your birthday?"

What was with him and the randomness? The sudden niceness? Tess was greatly confused. Did he know about her big plot to humiliate him? The plot that had no middle to it? She was startled into answering truthfully. "September 1st," she said.

Malfoy—sorry, _Draco_—blinked. "That's interesting. Unfortunate, too, if you like big family celebrations."

"I don't," Tess said coldly.

"June 5th," Draco said, and exited, closing the door behind him.

Tess spent the rest of the train ride in complete confusion.

When she went downstairs a week after getting home, she saw the normal family scene she had come to dislike during the past six years: Mom on her phone, Dad scribbling away on paperwork, and Alexa and Sadie fighting over some trivial thing. Today it was who got to sit in the recliner closer to the stairs, even though there was another recliner on the other side of the room.

"Welcome home, sis," Sadie said sarcastically. "OW, Alexa, not in the eye!"

"You're the one who moved your face," Alexa snapped.

"How old are you really?" Tess asked. Before either twin could say anything, Tess had moved on into the kitchen. "Mom, can I bake something?"

"Chili," her mother said. Then she looked up. "Oh, sorry. Did you have a nice year at Warthog's?"

"Hogwarts," Tess corrected. "Yes, I did. Thanks. Can I make cookies or something?"

"We don't have any paper," Mom said to Dad. "Of course, if we have the ingredients."

Tess headed into the pantry, a mental recipe for brownies in her head. She'd made them so many times, she'd memorized what Dad called "the chemical formula"; they were her signature treat.

She was pulling the brownies out of the oven when she heard a resounding _CRACK_ from upstairs. She looked around instinctively; the twins weren't downstairs.

"SADIE OR ALEXA, I DON'T CARE WHICH ONE OF YOU IT IS, JUST GET THE HECK OUT OF MY ROOM," she yelled.

"WE'RE NOT IN YOUR ROOM," Sadie and Alexa yelled back in unison.

"Yeah, sure, now you're not," Tess grumbled. She grabbed a knife from the knife block, cut a stack of brownies, and loaded them onto her plate, scorching her fingers. "Ow. Brownies up for grabs!"

It was like a herd of elephants had been introduced to running in the house. With much pounding, the twins shot down the stairs and into the kitchen. Tess went up the stairs with her brownies and stopped short.

"Why's my door closed?" she called.

"Has been for the past five minutes," Sadie informed her loudly.

"My window must be open," Tess muttered. She walked over to the door, opened it, entered her room, and turned to close the door. She considered _Colloportus_, but then again, that'd be a violation of Wizarding rules. No underage magic.

"Smells good."

Tess shrieked and dropped the plate, whirling.

Malfoy flicked his wand. The plate and brownies stopped inches from the floor and floated back up into Tess's hands. "Brownies, hmm?" He was sitting on the bed. _Her _bed. She'd have to wash the sheets six times before she could actually sleep in it.

"What," said Tess, pressing herself against the door as Madam Pomfrey's warning—_it took me ages to seal those wounds up properly, and if they open when you're in the Muggle world you will most certainly die_—echoed in her ears, "the _hell_ are you doing in my bedroom?"

"Well, would you rather I Apparate into your front hall, scaring the living daylights out of all your family members?" Malfoy asked. "Because I can do that."

"You're breaking every underage magic rule in the world," Tess gasped.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow.

Tess's mind flew back to the train. _June 5__th_, he'd said. Oh, great. Malfoy was of age. "Okay, fine, you're not. But what the heck are you doing in my house? I never invited you, and I never will!" She realized she had drawn her wand but made no move to put it away.

"Tsk, tsk," Malfoy scolded. "No cursing."

"I can curse whenever I want," Tess growled.

Malfoy stood and walked over. "May I have one?"

Tess was torn. She didn't want Malfoy to have one of her brownies, they were _hers_, but she also wanted someone to say that she made good brownies. Yes, or no?

Finally she caved and wordlessly held the plate out, relaxing a tiny bit so that she was no longer so tense. Malfoy picked up a brownie, inspected it, and asked, "Are there any nuts in it?"

Tess shook her head.

Malfoy nodded and took a bite. Instantly his face lost its half-disdainful expression. "This"—he held up the brownie—"is the _best _brownie I have _ever _eaten."

For a moment, her spirits soared. Then they lost their wings and plunged. It was Malfoy. Who cared what Malfoy thought of her brownies?

Well, it was better than him calling her a Mudblood.

There were footsteps in the hall. "Theresa? Is everything all right?"

It was Dad. He always called her Theresa. Tess handed the brownie plate to Malfoy—who was asking something that she didn't want to answer—shoved him to the side of the room that her door blocked, and stuck her head into the hallway. "Fine, Dad."

"Hey, let me in," Dad said. He pushed on the door. Tess hoped that Malfoy had the good sense to cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself as she reluctantly stepped back. But no, he was leaning against the wall, watching casually as Tess's father as he entered the room.

Dad turned and saw Malfoy. "Wizard, hmm?" he said to Tess.

Malfoy blinked hard. "Mr. Wilford?"

Dad pointed at him. "Draco, right? Lucius Malfoy's son?"

Malfoy nodded, looking somewhat astounded. "I knew that she's a Wilford, and that you're a Wilford, but I never pieced them together . . . Dad says you've got the night shift at the Ministry?"

"SHH," Dad hissed. Gears started turning in Tess's head, and she stepped between the two of them. "Dad."

Her father gulped.

"Oh, no," Tess said. "You didn't. You didn't lie to me for my entire life, saying that you're a normal Muggle, when actually you work for the Ministry of Magic. You wouldn't do that to me. You wouldn't."

Dad fidgeted backwards a step.

"You wouldn't make me go to Hogwarts believing that I was magic-bloodedly alone in the family," Tess went on, her voice slowly rising. "You wouldn't make me spend six—no, _seven years_ being bullied and pushed around by people like him!" Here she pointed at Malfoy. "You wouldn't make me withstand seven years of being ignored because I'm in Ravenclaw, ignored by everyone but _him,_ who would seek me out to call me a Mudblood at every turn!"

"Look, Tess—"

"No, you look! Did Professor Dumbledore ever contact you telling you about this?" She pulled up her sleeve to her shoulder so Dad could see the long, still-pink scar on her arm. "Guess who did that to me?"

Dad's eyes slowly strayed to Malfoy.

"Yes! Ever heard of the spell Sectumsempra, Father dear? That's what he did to me. And all because I stated a true fact; not many people can cast a Patronus Charm, and if anyone couldn't, it'd be Malfoy."

"That is not what you said," Malfoy interrupted.

Tess ignored him. "So, being a Malfoy, this jerk nearly killed me. I mean, seriously! He thinks I'm a piece of scum under his foot because he thought I'm a Mudblood—"

"Don't say that word," Dad warned.

"DANG IT!" Tess shouted. "SHUT UP! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TELL ME WHAT TO SAY! YOU HAVE BEEN LYING TO ME ABOUT YOUR FREAKING IDENTITY FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE! FOR ALL I KNOW YOU'RE NOT EVEN MY FATHER!"

She turned around, crossing her arms. "What was it that you were asking me? Something about my name?"

"No," Malfoy said. "So, um, my dad—Lucius Malfoy—he works at the Ministry—"

"I know," Tess said darkly.

"So, he knows this couple, right?" Malfoy said. "And they're both pure-bloods, you see."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Tess demanded. Her head drifted down so she could look at her feet.

"The guy is Henry, and the lady's Kendra. Wilford."

Her head snapped up so hard she nearly got whiplash. "Say _what_? Henry and Kendra Wilford—that's—that's—"

_No way no way no way no way,_ she thought. _I'm_ _a_ pureblood. _A pureblood. _

She marched over to Malfoy and slapped him. He was so startled he dropped his second brownie. Massaging his cheek, he glared at her. "What was that for?"

"All the times you've called me a Mudblood," Tess snarled. "Out."

"What?"

"Get out."

"Out of where?"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Malfoy took his time standing up, but finally he was on his feet. He looked over Tess's head at her father. Five minutes passed.

Tess grabbed Malfoy's arm to haul him from her room.

And then he Apparated.

It was all a whirlwind of color, making Tess sick, and she couldn't breathe. Just as she felt she was going to pass out, she tumbled onto gray-green grass. Before she would have stopped moving with momentum, she was on her feet and lunging at Malfoy, getting an arm around his middle and tackling him like an American football linebacker. "Take me back," she grunted in his ear.

"I can't if you're laying on me," Malfoy grunted back.

In one swift movement, Tess had pulled herself halfway up and shoved her forearm against his throat. "Do you think I'm going to fall for that? Yeah right. I'm the one in Ravenclaw."

"Get off me," Malfoy said sharply.

"Take me back."

"No, seriously." He looked agitated. "Get _off_." He grabbed her shoulders and shoved her off forcefully, then scrambled to his feet. "Hello, Father."

Tess was about to join Malfoy on his feet when a boot slammed into her back, sending slicing pain darting through her entire body. She cried out and slumped against the grass. Something was wrong. She should be getting up by now, never stay down—

"Don't!"

There was a thud behind her.

"Draco, what have I always told you?" Lucius Malfoy said silkily. "If you harm me, there are serious consequences."

"She's a pureblood," Draco said quickly. "She's the daughter of Henry and Kendra Wilford. _She's one of us_."

"You yourself have told me that she's a Mudblood, Draco."

The pain was still there. It should have faded. Tess reached behind her and felt her back. It was wet.

She cursed softly. Then the reality sank in and she cursed again, quite loudly. _Stay still, don't make your heart pump more blood out—_

"Tess?" Draco said. She heard the swish of grass—then someone was prying her hand away from the reopened scar—another curse—

Then blackness.

A/N: First author's note (because I forgot the other two chapters)! Yay! Thanks for the views and the nice comments, you guys! I almost cried from happiness when I saw how many views this story got (as of now, 14 or 15 and in one day, that's GOOD)! Also, sorry for any typos or errors. I should have gotten them all because I finished this in Microsoft Word before I started publishing and it's good for pointing out mess-ups and stuff. Thanks again, guys, you made my day! :D


	4. Chapter 4

DRACO

"Tess?" he said, turning. She was lying on the ground, her cheek pressed into the dirt and her hand on her back. The part of her shirt around her hand was reddish brown. Suddenly he was on his knees beside her, removing her hand. Yup. The scar was open. He cursed, pulled out his wand, and said, "_Mobilicorpus_."

Her body rose into the air with his wand. "Father—you opened one of her scars—"

Lucius pulled himself to his feet smoothly, his gray eyes cold. "Isn't that what you want? She's a Mudblood."

"She's a pureblood," Draco shouted. "Ask Henry if you want. Unless he's disowned her in the last five minutes, she's still his daughter!" He cursed again. "Which way to St. Mungo's?"

"Why are you so caring about her all of a sudden?" Lucius asked. He strode towards his son.

"She's a pureblood," Draco said fiercely. "She can help us get rid of all the Mudbloods." He glanced around desperately.

Then it hit him.

Snape.

The teacher had chanted something when he was healing Draco. Something like Vulnera Samptemper.

"You wouldn't happen to know the countercurse for Sectumsempra, do you?" he said to Lucius.

His father hesitated before answering. "No."

Vulnera San . . . San . . .

"Vulnera Sanentur," Draco blurted. He lowered Tess to the grass and crouched. "_Vulnera Sanentur . . ._" _Snape said it three times I think—_ "_Vulnera Sanentur . . . Vulnera Sanentur._" As he spoke, he traced his wands over her wound. It healed mostly, but he could tell that a slightest of touches would reopen it. He stuck his wand in his belt loop and frowned. It'd be best to let that heal, but she couldn't just stay out here, even in the middle of summer.

It started to rain.

"Of course," Draco muttered. He pointed his wand at Tess's recently reopened wound. "_Impervius._"

"Lucius, is Draco back yet?" a woman's voice called. It was Draco's mother.

"Indeed, Narcissa," Lucius called back. "He brought a . . . guest."

"Let me get this straight," Narcissa said, delicately stabbing a piece of chicken with her fork. "You thought this . . . Tess was a Mudblood? But she's actually the daughter of Henry and Kendra Wilford?"

Draco nodded. "I just never connected the dots. There are hundreds of people in the world whose surnames are Wilford." He laid his knife and fork across his plate and leaned back in his chair.

"And currently she's in one of _our_ guest bedrooms, eating _our_ food, which is being served by _our_ house elf," Lucius said. "Narcissa, we must kick her out."

"No," Narcissa opposed. "Draco wants her here, so she stays here."

Silence fell over the dining room table, broken only by the clink of silver against porcelain. Narcissa took forever to eat. Lucius kept slamming down his silverware and staring at the large chandelier above the table.

"May I go?" Draco said snappishly after about five rounds of the slamming.

"Of course, dear," Narcissa murmured.

Draco shot out of his chair like a Muggle's rocket and took the stairs three at a time to his room. Family dinners were so painfully boring.

He snapped his fingers impatiently as he paced his room, trying to think. If he. . . .

He lost his train of thought as his mind flashed to the blood on Tess's back.

"Master Draco, sir?"

Draco whirled. The house elf Yupa was standing with her head bowed in his doorway.

"What is it?" Draco said, half grateful for the distraction.

"The Lady Tess would like to see you," Yupa said. "Master."

Draco huffed. "Honestly, Yupa, how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling her Lady? She's not part of the family."

Yupa twisted her ears. "Dreadfully sorry, Master Draco, sir—"

"Shut up," Draco said cruelly as he passed her. He heard a banging noise a few seconds later and faint cries of _bad Yupa_. "Cut that out," he called over his shoulder as he entered Tess's room.

She was sitting in the enormous four-poster bed with her back awkwardly arched so nothing touched the scar. A tarnished silver tray sat on her lap. In it were a white bowl, a small white plate, and a spoon and knife.

"Soup?" Draco guessed.

It took her a little to figure out what he said. "Oh—yeah. Chicken noodle and a biscuit. What about you?"

"Chicken and bread." Draco shrugged. "We have another course, but I wasn't hungry."

Tess nodded.

"So . . ." Draco fought for words. "Um—you're named Theresa."

Tess sighed. "Sadly, yes."

"Uh, hello? Theresa is a pretty name."

"No."

"Yep."

"Uh-uh."

"Yeah."

"What's your full name?" Tess asked, swiftly changing the subject.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy," he was startled into saying. The only other people in the world who knew that were his parents, Aunt Bellatrix, and now Tess. All the hospital people who had taken care of him had mysteriously died in the week following his birth. "What about you?"

"Theresa Emily Mica Wilford," Tess said after a moment. "Tell no one." She lifted a glass of water to her mouth.

Draco glanced around the room. "I think you're going to be here for a while . . . you want some decora—"

"I'm going to be here for a while?" Tess spluttered, spraying water everywhere. "Oh, no, bub, you've got it wrong. I'm only staying here for the night."

"It's dangerous for you to go out with such a raw wound," Draco protested.

"It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't decided to bring me here!" Tess dropped the glass onto a bedside table.

"I saved your life!"

"You wouldn't have needed to save my life if you weren't idiot enough to bring me to your stupid 'Malfoy Manor'!"

Draco found himself bellowing. "YOUR FATHER SAID I COULD TAKE YOU, IN FACT HE WANTED ME TO, HE SAID IT WOULD BE A GOOD EXERCISE FOR YOU AND YOU NEEDED TO STEAM BEFORE YOU SAW HIM AGAIN, SO YOU'RE STAYING WITH ME!"

Tess scrambled out of the bed, snatched up her wand from her nightstand, and limped from the room. For someone with such a serious injury, she could move fast. She slammed the door behind her.

For a moment Draco stood stunned in the room, staring at the gray door. Then he blasted it apart with the Reductor curse and shot into the hall. Tess was at the bottom of the enormous staircase, crouching. She looked like she'd slid down the banister. Her shirt still had bloodstains on it.

As he watched, she stood and hurried into the foyer. One of the enormous doors leading to the outdoor path creaked open, then closed with a deep thud.

Draco slid down the banister and ran after Tess. "I'll be outside," he shouted behind him so that his parents didn't worry. He burst through the doors and careened down the path, his wand out. Tess was at the gate, petting a white peacock.

"_Stupefy_," he yelled.

Instantly Tess was on her feet. She threw the peacock at the moving spell and fled through the gates. The peacock hit the spell with unnerving accuracy and fell.

A rock came sailing over the wall, heading straight for Draco's face. He shot the Reductor curse at it. "Tess!"

"Good riddance," she called. There was a loud bang and something purple flashed into view. Draco threw himself at the gates, slamming into them and making them careen open. He skidded out onto the path, then jumped back as there was another loud BANG.

Tess was gone.

"If you ask me," Lucius said over dinner, "it's a good thing she's gone. Eating _our _food—"

"Which we're not exactly short of," Draco muttered.

"—sleeping in _our _beds—"

"Not short on those either."

"—being waited on by _our _house-elf—"

"Who probably likes the change of pace."

"—wasting _our _money—"

Draco rose, banging his fist on the table. "Would you _please _be quiet!"

"She's a Mudblood—" Lucius started.

"She's just as pureblooded as you," Draco snarled, his hand delving into his robes to pull out his wand.

"Don't you insult me," Lucius threatened, also going for his wand as he stood.

"I'm not insulting you," Draco hissed

"You called me a Mudblood," Lucius roared.

"You called her a Mudblood," Draco yelled.

"And then you said she was just as pureblooded as I am," Lucius barked.

"STOP!" Narcissa shrieked, whipping to her feet.

Draco and Lucius froze.

"Draco," Narcissa said slowly and clearly, "go get your things for school."

"But it's not close to September—"

"DO IT," his mother shouted.

Draco moved out of the dining room and up to his room. Silently he packed his trunk and grabbed his owl, Mortem. The cage was empty. _He'll find me_.

He dragged his trunk back downstairs and dumped it in the front hall. Narcissa was waiting for him.

"Yes, Mother?" Draco said, putting emphasis on _mother_.

"Go to the Leaky Cauldron," Narcissa commanded. "I don't want to see you until next year. Understand?"

Draco swallowed. His mother used to be timid and meek. Now she was ordering him around like nobody's business. It was a large change. "How am I to get there?"

"I don't care how you get there," Narcissa whispered harshly. "Just get out of the house!"

Blinking, Draco levitated his trunk and the empty owl cage in front of him and steered them through the front doors. After he got through the gates, he Apparated to Diagon Alley. He could have stayed at Crabbe or Goyle's house, but this only occurred to him after he secured a room in the Leaky Cauldron until September first. He went into Diagon Alley and made a withdrawal from Gringotts Wizarding Bank, filling a large sack full of his father's gold. He was glad he'd made a copy of the vault key in his third year.

He received his Hogwarts letter a few days after arriving at the Leaky Cauldron and went out to purchase all his books. As he was passing by the wand shop, Ollivander's, on his way back to the Leaky Cauldron, he saw a street vendor advertising pet rocks.

"Pet rocks," he sneered (albeit halfheartedly) as he approached the vendor. "That's a little overdone, isn't it?"

The vendor, a plump gray-haired woman, picked up one of the rocks on the table and whispered a word at it. Suddenly it was a small, fat dragon-like creature, with large eyes that looked a bit like Muggle googly-eyes and stubby little legs. Its nose was flat with slitted nostrils, and the tail was short with little spikes on it.

Draco was stunned.

"How did you do that?"

The lady smiled a mostly toothless smile. "Magic, dear boy. Would you like one?"

"How long do they live?" Draco demanded.

"As long as you do," the lady said. "Once you say their activation word, your life is linked with theirs. They show the same wounds—"

"Do they all look the same?" Draco interrupted.

The witch shrugged. "It depends on what you look like. If you're a little on the chubby side, like me, then yours will look like mine." She gestured at the pet rock. "Tall, and it'll have a longer tail. Things like that."

"Are they all gray?" Draco grilled.

"You can easily charm them to be a different color," the witch slowly said, "and if you have a strong mental and emotional link with them, their color will change with your mood."

"If yours was to die," Draco interrogated, "would you die also?"

"No," the witch said slowly. "But if I die, Mr. Calx here will die also."

"So say I'm getting someone else one of these," Draco said. "Would they have to purchase the rock for it to be theirs?"

"No," said the vendor. "Each rock has a secret word that it activates and deactivates to. You get this rock, and say its secret word, then it's yours."

Draco waited, but she wasn't getting clearer. "The first person to say its secret word is its owner?"

"Yup."

"How do I know its secret word?"

"When I box it up, I put a slip of paper in that has its word in it."

Draco eyed the rocks. "How much?"

"One galleon each, no more, no less," the witch said, "and that's the final price."

He spoke the secret word to his pet rock. Nothing happened.

He felt a bit stupid, watching the plain gray stone on his moth-eaten bedspread.

Its eyes were the first to emerge, the same light gray as his. The rock slowly darkened to match the black suit he was wearing. It grew legs and a tail, and its ears were pointed. It even produced a small, hairy mop of white-blond hair like his.

"My," Draco said, too stunned to say anything more intelligent.

The rock yawned, showing a slit tongue like a snakes, and no teeth. Draco reached out with a finger and tickled it under its chin. He felt incredibly immature, but the little animal was so cute he couldn't help it. Yes. Cute.

_If my father could see me now,_ he thought dryly.

The rock made a little noise, like a baby cooing, but more clearly. Draco felt himself grinning. He picked up the rock and set it on his shoulder, deciding to call it Perch (with a "ck" sound). It made the same noise and nuzzled his chin by his ear.

He spent the next half hour playing with Perch, and by the time it was dark, he was lying on his back on the floor with the little rock animal on his stomach. Both were laughing.

Someone knocked on his door and called something, but he was too busy laughing to hear. The knock sounded again, loud enough for him to hear. He shut up instantly, carefully deposited Perch in the pocket of his suit, and assumed a cold demeanor as he opened the door. "Yes?"

A bedraggled-looking witch with a mop over her shoulder was standing very close to the doorway. "Room service," she said in a nasal voice.

Draco turned and waved his wand. All his things flew into his trunk. "Thanks," he said shortly, and pushed past the witch.

"You a Malfoy?" she called after him.

He gave a short nod.

"You _laughing_?" the witch demanded.

Draco bit his lip to keep from snapping and headed down the stairs, surveying the pub as he went. There was a cloaked figure in the corner, a group of witches under the stairs, and a few people sitting at the bar. Other than that, the building was abnormally empty.

He found a table in a quiet corner and ordered a pumpkin juice and steak. A small squeak from his jacket pocket reminded him of Perch's presence. He put Perch on the table.

The rock started climbing over his hand. Draco looked around absentmindedly. Someone was coming down the stairs. It was too far away for him to tell who.

"Malfoy?"

He was scooping Perch back into his pocket before he knew what he was doing. Much to his surprise, Ginny Weasley was standing in front of his table.

"Another Weasley," he scoffed. "How many of you are their?"

"Enough to kick your butt if we felt the need," Ginny snarled.

Draco pulled his wand out of his coat and twiddled it in his fingers. "Careful what you say, Weasley, or you'll have a face of boils before you can say hex." He peered at her. "Ah—never mind. You already do."

"You're not allowed to do magic outside school," Ginny said confidently.

Draco Transfigured a nearby chair into a magic glass, Summoned it to him, and set it on the table. Then he whispered, "_Lacarnum Inflamarae_". A jet of fire shot into the jar, turning it into a self-made lantern. He set his wand on the table, steepled his fingers. "You were saying?"

Ginny didn't look shocked. She glowered at him.

"Malfoy, is it?"

Draco nearly jumped—Ginny's older brothers, the two twins Fred and George, had just popped up out of nowhere behind her. Both wore veiled looks of disgust.

"Yeah," Malfoy said. "You're Carrots and Neon, right?"

"Monotonous," Fred (or was it George) said to George (or was it Fred)?

"Same old, same old," George/Fred said to Fred/George.

"What's wrong?" Ginny said to Malfoy.

"Yeah, Mummy kick you out of the house?" Fred asked with fake sympathy.

"Being too sulky," George guessed.

"I tried to give your mother money," Draco said, "although now I wonder why I wanted to."

There was a moment of shocked silence.

Then:

"Don't insult our mother," Fred hissed, whipping out his wand. George nodded in agreement, murder in his eyes.

"BOYS!"

Mrs. Weasley rushed over, grabbed both twins by the backs of their collars, and spun them around. She propelled them with a firm push towards the center of the pub. A stern look at Ginny sent her daughter dashing after her brothers.

"Sorry about that, dear," Mrs. Weasley said kindly to Draco, glancing at him. She smiled, then froze and turned back to him. "You're Lucius Malfoy's son."

"Named him after a dragon, Mum," Ginny called.

Mrs. Weasley shot a frosty look at Draco and bustled off, her back rigid.

Suddenly Draco was very tired of being the bad guy. He always got mean or disgusted looks. What was the point of being mean if nothing good was going to come out of it? Sure, his father's approval had meant something to him . . . once. Now, since he hated every inch of that slimeball's guts, he wasn't so sure.

Somehow Perch had made it up to his shoulder. Draco reached up and settled his pet on the table. "I've got to be nicer to people," he confided.

Draco's pet nodded.

There was a clatter and his food was set on the table. "That'll be twenty sickles and four Knuts," snapped the bartender.

Draco paid and started slicing his steak with the too-dull knife. Finally he stabbed his knife into the table, took out his wand, muttered "_Diffindo_" several times, and within two minutes, had plenty of bite-sized pieces. He Transfigured his self-made lantern into a little saucer, put some mashed-up steak in it, and offered it to Perch. The rock gave him a sort of grin and munched it all up. Then it jumped to the base of his goblet of pumpkin juice.

Draco peered into the goblet. Was that thick, muddy-brown liquid supposed to be pumpkin juice?

He pointed his wand at the saucer he'd made and said, "_Aguamenti_." The dish filled to the brim with water. Perch stumped over and started lapping it up like a little dog.

Draco smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part Two**: The Last Journey to Hogwarts, and the First Half of Seventh Year

Chapter 5

TESS

She woke up with a feeling of excitement, but also dread. It was time to go to Hogwarts, and it was also her birthday. But this Hogwarts ride would be her last, and most likely no one would send her any presents because she blew up and left with Malfoy (NOT OF HER OWN VIOLITION).

She felt a little cautious about using magic, but she waved her wand and all her things flew into her trunk, the lid of which closed with a loud, satisfying BANG and locked itself. Her trunk had been sent here, to the Leaky Cauldron, on the second day she'd been here. She'd gone out, gotten all her schoolbooks, and bought herself a pack of raven quills.

She looked around. The room looked just as dark and dank as it had when she'd entered. She went down into Diagon Alley and into the Owl Emporium. There was a beautiful barn owl sitting in a cage in the corner. Tess had been entering every day to look at it. Finally she went up to the counter, dug out a galleon and three sickles, and slapped the coins on the counter. "I'll take—"

"The one that you've been looking at every day since the beginning of time?" the witch behind the counter finished. "Yes, I was wondering when you'd decide. Better hurry along, now, though, because it's nine-thirty." The witch retrieved the owl and Tess left the shop considerably happier.

On the Muggle side of the Leaky Cauldron, with her trunk and owl cage, Tess waved down the Knight Bus. "Good to see you again, Ernie," she said fondly to the bus driver. "King's Cross Station, please."

And so began the wild ride through the streets of London. The passenger next to Tess looked sick, but Tess was laughing uncontrollably. It was like being on a Muggle roller coaster, one that never stopped.

Tess loved roller coasters.

At King's Cross, she made her way onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters, loaded all her things, and found a nice, empty compartment, all before ten-thirty. She let her barn owl out of its cage.

"I think I'll call you Eliic," she decided.

Kids filed in and out of her compartment, the door of which she finally locked magically because she was so tired of having to take her feet off the opposite seat to stand up. Eventually, the Hogwarts Express started moving.

About an hour into the ride, there was a loud, insistent tapping on the glass of her window. A large tawny owl was bobbing wildly in the train's slipstream, carrying a large package and a letter. Tess pointed a warning, _stay in here _finger at Eliic and opened the window to grab the owl out of the air. It was a _Strix aluco_: spotted owl. She untied the package from its legs and opened the door to Eliic's cage so that the spotted owl could get a drink. She shut the window absentmindedly, plucking the letter from underneath the twine around the package.

She slipped her fingernail under the fold and ripped it open, earning herself a paper cut, which she ignored. The letter read as such.

Dear Theresa,

Happy birthday!

I'm sorry I couldn't be there to share it with you, but your father insisted I stay away from King's Cross until next year, when you come home. He said hopefully you'd be a bit more understanding by then.

Inside the package is your birthday gift, I do hope you like it. Now that the secret's out I thought it would be okay for me to get you a magical present. Alexa and Sadie also sent you something, but my owl is much faster than theirs because they sent you a large package. VERY LARGE. Just thought I'd warn you.

Have a great year at Hogwarts, honey. See you next year!

Love, Mum

Tess set the letter on the seat beside her and tore open the package with mixed feelings. Inside was a large book. She flipped it over to see the cover.

_All the Spells in the World,_ by Ingrid Opheilixon.

Tess grinned, already plotting ways to get back at Malfoy after she read the book. She opened it and a four-inch notebook fell out, eight and a half by eleven inches, along with a new, fancier inkpot.

"How did she do that?" Tess wondered to herself. She stood and retrieved her trunk to cram her new things in.

There was a loud smack on the window. Two snowy owls had crashed into the part that didn't open and were now sliding down the glass. Tess threw open the window and scooped them into her compartment. "Owls galore," she murmured. Just before she closed the window, a pygmy owl shot in, cheeping so loudly it was offensive. Tess ripped the letter off it and forced an owl treat down its throat to shut it up.

Dear Tess,

Sadie here. Just wanted to say happy birthday and all that crap. Your present should be at Hogwarts or Warthogs or whatever when you get there. Congrats about being of age, whatever the heck that means. Sorry about the owl. Only one left.—Sadie

Actually, Sadie thought it was cute. Quite frankly I think it's annoying. She insisted. Happy birthday. Enjoy your present. Use it well.

-Alexa

Tess nodded. The usual, semi-insulting birthday letter from Sadie and Alexa. Biiiiiiiigg surprise there.

But what was with the snowy owls? She went for the letter tied to one of their legs and touched something. She looked down. Nothing was there.

"It's invisible," Tess exclaimed. She carefully sliced the package off the owls' legs and tore open the vanished wrapping paper. A huge sack of Honeydukes candies fell out. Chocolate, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizbees, Levitating Sherbet balls; you name it, if it was from Honeydukes, it was in there.

"Wow," she said, and shoved it all into her trunk before anyone outside in the corridor saw it and wanted some. She left out a few Chocolate Frogs, though, and started reading _All the Spells in the World_.

A loud tapping on the window made her look up from her book. All the owls, besides Eliic, were trying to get out. She opened the window for them and they soared off.

She delved back into the book with vigor. Malfoy was going to _pay_.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tess closed her book, shoved it under her sweatshirt, and got up to open the door to the compartment.

"Thanks," Malfoy said, entering and closing the door behind him. Tess should have been prepared. She should have known that she'd have to see him again. She knew she would see him at Hogwarts . . . but she didn't realize that she'd see him so soon. She had thought she'd be able to avoid him on the train. Thankfully, she had a tiny amount of intelligence left in her. "Why do you continue to stalk me?" she demanded.

"Jeez," Malfoy said. "Thought you'd want this, you left it at the Leaky Cauldron." He set a plain box that Tess didn't recognize on the seat near her sweatshirt.

"You knew I was staying there?"

"Of course," Malfoy said. He smiled, _actually smiled,_ and exited the compartment.

"There's something wrong with him," Tess said to Eliic, who hooted calmly and nibbled at her finger.

She cautiously opened the box. A small notecard fell out.

Dear Tess,

A gift for you. Of course you didn't actually leave this in your room, I just thought I'd give you a birthday present (given your current feud with your family, I didn't think you'd be getting many presents), so happy birthday . . . I want to say that I'm really, really sorry about what happened last term. And what my father did. He should have known better. I'm thinking about disowning him.

Malfoy

Tess gasped. "No _way_."

_It's got to be some plot,_ she thought. _Something to get me to trust him so he can perform some other type of Dark Magic on me. Yeah. Nope._

But she opened the box anyway. A slip of parchment on the top read,

_Say the word below and your pet rock will activate for you and only you._

_Your secret word is: IRE_

_Enjoy your pet!_

Tess put the slip of parchment aside and took the flat gray stone out of the packaging. "Ire," she said uncertainly.

The rock quivered. Suddenly four legs popped out of it, stone legs like a cross between a dragon's and an elephant's leg. It stretched out a little, grew a short, stumpy tail, and then its head popped out. The shape of the head reminded Tess of Toothless, from the Muggle move _How to Train Your Dragon_. In fact, the entire thing looked a lot like Toothless, but with a wider body and no wings. Also it was dark gray, not black.

"Uh, am I supposed to name you?" Tess asked.

The rock nodded.

"Alriiiiiiight," Tess murmured. "Night Fury."

The rock made a cute, disgusted noise and shook its head.

"Wow," Tess said, raising her eyebrows. "What about Fillmore?"

The rock pretended to die.

"I'm kidding," Tess said. "Glaedr."

The rock jumped into her lap, made a sort of purring noise, and stared up at her with golden eyes. Tess took this as a yes and lifted Glaedr until they were nose to nose. "I think," she said, "that thanks are in order. Ride on my shoulder?"

She placed Glaedr on her shoulder and went out into the hallway, locking the door behind her. No one was going to steal her spellbook. Or any of her birthday presents. Or her owl.

Tess wandered down the hall, glancing in compartments. She didn't find Malfoy in her car, so she decided to go back to her compartment and send her Patronus to him. After casting the Patronus, she fed Glaedr some Honeydukes chocolate and snacked on it herself.

Noon came and went.

No sign of Malfoy.

Tess gave up on waiting for him and buried herself in her spellbook, only rising from its depths to stop Eliic from trying to eat Glaedr, who looked like he was having the time of his life in the owl's beak.

The train arrived at Hogwarts. Tess shoved all her things into her trunk, except Eliic and Glaedr, and found the carriages. She climbed in one and found herself with Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, and a Gryffindor she didn't recognize. "Hi, Luna."

"There—" Luna started.

"Tess," Tess interrupted. "You're recovered from last term, Ginny?"

"Not a single mark," Ginny said, smiling. She gestured to the Gryffindor beside her. "This is Seamus Finnigan."

"Hey," Seamus said.

"You're the kid who blew up his feather in first year Charms," said Tess. "I remember that."

"Everyone always brings that up," Seamus muttered.

"Not one of his finer moments," Ginny pointed out.

Tess grinned.

"I noticed Ron wasn't on the train," Luna said softly, looking up from her magazine. Her wand was tucked behind her ear.

"Oh," Ginny said. "Yeah." Her tone was dark. "He and Hermione and Harry went off to do some top-secret mission for Dumbledore. Something about Horcruxes."

"How'd you know?" Seamus asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

Ginny grinned. "Fred and George invented these things called Extendable Ears—very helpful for eavesdropping."

Something nibbled on Tess's ear. It was Glaedr. She picked up her rock pet and tickled him under his chin.

"Oh, that's cute," Ginny said, noticing Glaedr. "Where'd you get it?"

"Malfoy gave him to me," Tess said. She realized the enormity of what she'd just said and wished she hadn't.

"Malfoy?" Ginny gasped.

"That git?" Seamus added.

"How nice," Luna said.

"Yeah," Tess agreed. "It was nice. TOO nice. And earlier he came to my house, then took me to _his _house—"

"How?" Ginny said.

"He Apparated," Tess said. "His birthday's June 5th. Anyway, he took me to his house, and then his dad kicked one of my scars, and then I went to the Leaky Cauldron by way of the Knight Bus, and so did he, although I didn't know he was there." She shook her head. "Something's wrong with him. He's being too nice."

"Wasn't nice to me," Ginny said, an odd look on her face. "She insulted Mum. And Fred and George."

"So he's only being nice to you," Seamus noted.

"He likes you," Luna suggested.

"Uh huh," Tess retorted cynically. "Until two months ago, he thought I was a Muggle-born."

"We all did," Seamus told her.

"You're not?" Ginny demanded.

"As it turns out," Tess explained, "my mother and father both are pure-blooded. Dad works at the Ministry of Magic. Henry Wilford."

"My dad knows him," Ginny said. "Nice chap. His words."

"Me mum talks about him all the time. Says he's the worst thing that happened to the Ministry since Crouch," Seamus said. "Terrible secretary."

An awkward silence fell over the carriage.

"Doesn't mean I think the same thing," Seamus said, as an afterthought.

"He's not too good with tact," Ginny confided to Tess loudly.

"I don't care," Tess said breezily. "Not in the best of relations with my dad currently." She stroked Glaedr's back absentmindedly.

At the Great Hall the four split up, Tess and Luna heading for the Ravenclaw table, Seamus and Ginny to the Gryffindors. "Do you ever wish you were in a different house?" Tess asked Luna.

"Oh, sure," Luna said. They sat down. Tess waited, but Luna didn't elaborate.

"Which one?"

Luna finally looked up from her magazine, fixing Tess with a very serious gaze. "Do you promise you won't tell?"

"Yes," Tess said slowly.

"I'd like to be in Gryffindor," Luna said. She looked over at the Gryffindor table. Tess followed her gaze. She was watching Neville Longbottom, who was smiling and joking around with Seamus.

"He's much more confident now than his first year," Tess noticed.

"He is," Luna murmured, resting her chin on her hand. Tess deferred from pointing out that, seeing as Luna was a sixth year and Neville a seventh, she hadn't been there for his first year. She jumped as the doors creaked open and Professor McGonagall led the new first years in. Tess looked towards the teachers' table out of habit, to see if Rubeus Hagrid was there yet, and instantly nudged Luna.

"Hmm?" Luna said, still observing Neville.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Tess demanded, keeping her voice low. She watched Neville also, waiting for Luna's response. You had to hand it to her, Longbottom _was_ good-looking. Strong jaw, dark hair, and—surprisingly—a confident expression. _Just not my type._

Neville happened to glance over and he blushed at the dead serious scrutiny the two Ravenclaws were giving him. He leaned over to whisper to Seamus. Tess snapped her fingers under Luna's nose, pointedly staring past Neville at the Slytherin table. She caught Malfoy's eye and mouthed, _Thanks_, but he was already looking at the Slytherin next to him.

"What'd you ask me?" Luna said.

Tess pulled herself back to the Ravenclaw table. "Oh. Right. What happened to Dumbledore?"

"He's not there," Luna said. "Not in the headmaster's chair."

"It's Snape," Tess breathed. "He's not the headmaster."

Suddenly the Ravenclaw started cheering; someone had been Sorted into their House. Tess clapped halfheartedly.

"Hopefully he'll be talking about that," Luna said. "Professor Snape."

"Will he continue to teach?" Tess wondered.

"He'll probably assign himself the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Luna mused.

"Of course," Tess agreed. "I've heard he's been gunning for that position for years."

"He was a Death Eater once," Luna said. "Oooh, he's getting up—"

Snape raised his hands for silence. "Welcome to Hogwarts," he said. "To all students, the Forbidden Forest, is, as its name suggests, strictly off-limits—"

Tess's hand shot into the air, mostly of its own volition. Snape ignored it and went on: "Professor Slughorn will be taking over the position of Potions Master, while I will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Excuse me?" Tess called.

Several people gasped; no one had ever interrupted a headmaster (or other teacher) when making a speech. Snape ignored her. "As many of you may know, Lord Voldemort is back and planning an attack—"

"And how do you know that?" Seamus yelled, standing up. He looked mad.

Snape took out his wand and flicked it lazily in the Gryffindor's direction. Seamus was shoved into his seat by an invisible hand.

"As I was saying," Snape continued, "Voldemort is planning an attack. He will attack the school when Harry Potter enters."

Tess unobtrusively tucked her legs under her and put her toes on the bench. She pointed her wand at her throat. "_Sonorus._"

"If any of you are caught sending an owl out of this school, you will be severely—"

Tess stood on the bench and said clearly, "Where's Professor Dumbledore?" Her voice echoed around the Great Hall much louder than Dumbledore's ever had, thanks to the Amplifying Charm she'd used on herself.

Luna tugged on Tess's arm, but the latter was not backing down. "Where's Dumbledore?" she repeated.

Suddenly the entire school (except most of the Slytherin) was standing on their tables, clamoring to know what had happened to the old headmaster.

"_Silencio,_" Snape roared, casting his wand around the hall. Tess felt her vocal chords vanish and sat down with a defeated shake of her head.

"Severely punished," Snape went on, after a moment of silence, which he clearly enjoyed. "Let the feast begin." He clapped his hands. For a minute, nothing happened. When he clapped his hands again, food appeared on the tables. The tension faded from the hall. Snape lifted the Silencing Charm.

"The house-elves are rebelling," a fifth year Ravenclaw said, leaning across the table and grinning.

Tess returned the grin with the barest of smiles.

She finished dinner first and slipped unnoticed from the table, wondering which fifth years were the new prefects. Lilix and Garfield had been them, but they were gone now. Tess's hand strayed to her forehead, where her scar was.

She leaned against the pillar and waited.

It wasn't long before the Slytherin table filed out through the hall. She saw Malfoy and pushed her way through the stream of teens and tweens. She grabbed the front of Malfoy's robes and pulled him along behind her, into a deserted corridor. He was protesting. She spun him around and shoved him up against the wall, her forearm pressing into his throat. "Where. Is. Dumbledore."

"I don't know," Malfoy choked out.

"You would!" Tess shouted, making him jump. "You would know where he is, your father's a freaking Death Eater!"

Malfoy kicked out, his foot hitting her ankles with resounding strength and sweeping her legs out from under her. She landed hard on the floor, lay there dazed for a split second, and shot to her feet.

It was Malfoy's turn to do the shoving. He drove her into the opposite wall, making her head throb with the force, and jammed her shoulders up against the stone. "My father is no Death Eater," he snarled.

Tess stared at him, wide-eyed. Since when was he so . . . not cowardly? He pulled her away from the wall and swung her in a wide arc, letting go at the middle of the arc, where the momentum was. She stumbled backwards and it was all she could do not to fall.

"Leave me alone," Malfoy hissed.

"The only reason I was trying to talk to you was to thank you for Glaedr," Tess hissed back, "but now I realize you don't deserve to be talked to, let alone thanked."

His eyes narrowed. "Who's Glaedr?"

"Figure it out," Tess bit out. "Apparently everyone else thinks you're smart enough." She pointed her wand at the floor. Smoke shot from the tip, hit the floor, and rose up. In the diversion, Tess shot down the hall and sprinted at top speed for the Ravenclaw tower. She barely even listened to the riddle: "If I drink, I die; if I eat, I'm fine. What am I?" She gasped out "Fire" and burst through the door, slamming it hard behind her. She raced up to the dorms and flung herself into her bed. There she panted, absentmindedly touching the back of her throbbing head, and tried to make sense of her emotions. She should use logic. So she sorted out what she was feeling.

She was confused. She was scared. She was angry. She was happy.

_Alright, now sort out why you have those emotions,_ Tess told herself. She was confused because it seemed that no one knew where Dumbledore was, and Malfoy was, just as suddenly as he'd started being nice to her, a twit again. She was scared because Voldemort was going to attack the school, Dumbledore was nowhere to be found, and Malfoy had never shown such . . . she wouldn't call it courage, but it wasn't cowardliness either. She was angry that he'd given her the pet rock, then brushed her off. She was happy to be back at Hogwarts.

She opened her trunk to get out her pajamas and saw her birthday presents. Alexa and Sadie had said that theirs would be waiting in the Owlrey. Tess rummaged around in her trunk and found her homework planner. Her new schedule was sitting on her nightstand. She wrote _go to Owlrey to pick up package from A and S_ on her schedule, then scribbled a hasty _find spellbooks in library_ in her homework planner. She put both items on her nightstand and got ready for bed.

Glaedr jumped onto her lap from the nightstand where she'd put him when she came in. He cuddled up against her stomach and fell asleep, snoring softly. Soon Tess joined him in dreamland.

**A/N: **Sorry I forgot to tell you about the parts, all in all there are three or four. :)


	6. Chapter 6

DRACO

Early next morning Draco was running along the halls to Headmaster Snape's office, Crabbe and Goyle behind him. Draco glanced at them and pushed himself faster. The two chubby boys soon fell behind him.

Draco put on a spurt of speed and shot around the corner. He gasped out the password and raced onto the moving staircase. By the time Crabbe and Goyle turned the corner, the gargoyle was back in place and Draco was banging on the door of the headmaster's office.

Snape flung the door wide, his mouth open and an angry look in his beady eyes. When he saw Draco, his irritated look vanished, to be replaced with a smile. "Ah, Mr. Malfoy. Come in."

"I don't need to come in," Draco said hurriedly. "I need permission to send owls."

Snape stared at him, then nodded slowly once.

"Thanks," Draco said quickly, and jumped back onto the moving staircase. He burst out of the gargoyle with a shout of "Go back to the common room, you large oafs", directed at Crabbe and Goyle. He tore down the hall and made it to the Owlrey in less than five minutes.

He'd already written the letter. He just needed to find an owl. He studied the owls with interest, then chose one that was native to the place and sent it off on its way. As he was exiting, he noticed a package in the shape of a broom. Shrugging, he headed to the Great Hall.

**A/N:** Seeing as I copy-pasted this from the Microsoft Word document, I didn't realize how short it was. Lots more updates coming soon! (I'm copy-pasting as fast as I can!) :)


	7. Chapter 7

TESS

She climbed the steps to the Owlrey quickly but quietly. Malfoy had just passed seconds ago, but she'd been in a nook and hadn't been noticed by the Slytherin.

Tess found she was glaring and softened her expression. No need to scare all the owls. She glanced around the Owlrey. There was a large broom-shaped package in one of the delivery slots. "That can't be it," Tess murmured. She fingered the handle. The package rolled over. Scrawled on the paper was, in very big letters, her name. Below that someone had written, _from Sadie and Alexa_.

A feeling of excitement washed over Tess and she picked up the package, weighing it eagerly. She had gotten a broomstick from her sisters. _She had gotten a broomstick from her sisters!_

She started to carry it down the staircase, then realized that she'd probably get in trouble if she was seen carrying a package down from the Owlrey. She cast a Disillusionment charm on it. Then she ran back to Ravenclaw tower, leaned out her window, and called, "Accio Tess's new broomstick!"

Jenn, who was just about to exit the room, whirled. "You got a broomstick?"

Tess heard a whistling sound and dropped, purely out of reflex; it had sounded like someone shot a Stunning spell at her. Slowly she started to stand, then knocked her head on something and sat down hard. She reached up and closed her fingers around the broom. She whispered "_Finite Incantatem_" with her wand pointed at it. The brown paper appeared.

"Well, open it," exclaimed another seventh year, Raven, who was on the Quidditch team. She bounced onto Tess's bed.

"Yeah, open it," Jenn urged.

Tess needed no more encouragement. She ripped the paper off. A shocked silence filled the room.

"A _Firebolt_?" Raven whispered, her eyes filled with awe.

Tess was staring at it with the same amount of admiration. "And my sisters sent me this," she breathed.

"Can I ride it?" Raven demanded.

"Me too," Jenn gasped.

Suddenly the room was filled with people clamoring to take a turn on the Firebolt. Tess held up her hands. "I'm really sorry, you guys, but I'm not going to use it until Quidditch tryouts."

There was a collective groan.

Tess wrapped the paper around the Firebolt and put it under her bed. "I'm sorry, you guys."

"Look on the bright side," Raven said. "Quidditch tryouts are in early November. That's not too far away. You grow up on a broom, Tess?"

"No," Tess admitted. "I thought . . . er, I'm a Muggle-born." She figured it wouldn't be a good idea to go around telling everyone in school that she was a pure-blood all of a sudden. No one would believe her. "Just keep this to yourselves, okay you guys?" she requested. "I'd get in a load of trouble if anyone else found out I'd been to the Owlrey today."

She collected her things for the day and went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Ravenclaw table was virtually empty; they normally ate breakfast quickly and crammed in a few minutes at the library before their first class. Tess sat down at the end of the table, took Glaedr from her pocket, and placed him next to her plate.

Tess didn't know how Raven was on the team. When talking about anything other than Quidditch, she was a stereotypical teen girl: giggly, not really consulting her schoolbooks, and following around the latest top hot boy in school. But when Quidditch was the topic, she was dead serious.

Glaedr nuzzled her hand, looking for food. Tess scooped eggs, sausage, and a waffle onto her plate, then handed some sausage to her pet rock. She piled her waffle with whipped cream, powdered sugar, and maple syrup. She ate briskly.

When she was done, Glaedr was covered in syrup (she didn't know how) and was trying to eat out of the bowl of whipped cream. Tess doused him with water, dried him with her napkin, and placed him on her shoulder, resisting the urge to look over at the Slytherin table. She stood and swung her school bag over her shoulder and headed off to the dungeons.

September passed quickly enough, and though Tess snooped around as much as possible without getting into trouble, she didn't find out where Dumbledore was. October was much the same. The only bit of excitement to break the tension in the school was the Halloween feast.

And then suddenly it was November. On the second it snowed, providing the school with a wintry spirit, and snowball fights erupted all over the place in the following week.

And then it was time for the Quidditch tryouts. Tess took her broom out to the field early and Raven went with her to give her flying tips. They decided that Tess should probably try out for a Chaser, given her extensive prowess with throwing a ball. Soon enough the Quidditch captain, a seventh year named Quinn Jefferies, walked onto the field and called the two girls down. "You here for the tryouts?" he asked Tess. He had an Irish accent.

"Yeah," Tess said.

"She's got a Firebolt," Raven blurted excitedly.

"No way," Quinn gasped. He grabbed the broom out of Tess's hand and peered at the handle. Then he looked up at her. "Could I try it out?"

"It's amazing," Raven gushed. "I already had a go—you'll let him, won't you?" she added to Tess.

"Sure," Tess said. "But please, don't choose me for the team just because I have a Firebolt?"

"He's not that biased," Raven said. "Go _on_, Quinn, try it out already! It's not going to kill you." She shoved the captain so that he almost broke his nose on the broom handle. Quinn tentatively kicked off, then sped around the Quidditch pitch screaming in exhilaration.

"He likes Quidditch?" Tess said.

Raven didn't give her an odd look for asking the question to which the answer was obvious. "Definitely. Wants to be on a professional team if he can next year."

Shortly Quinn landed, as people were beginning to file onto the pitch, and handed Tess's broom back to her with a dazed look in his eyes. "It's amazing," he told her dreamily.

Then he shouted, making Tess jump. "OI! NO FIRST YEARS! GET BACK INSIDE, PHILIP!"

"Dang it," a small voice exclaimed, and a short first year ran back to the castle.

"My little brother," Quinn said affectionately. "Such an annoying git. ALRIGHT, EVERYONE! EXISTING TEAM MEMBERS WITH ME!"

Tess moved to the large crowd of people waiting to try out. The only person who joined Quinn (other than Raven) was Kim Fields, a fourth year with one of her front teeth missing. Tess assumed she was one of the Beaters.

"Welcome back, those of you who've been with us before," Quinn said. "And welcome to Quidditch tryouts, those of you who haven't. The available slots are: one Beater, two Chasers, and one Seeker. First up to try out are potential Seekers, because it's exceptionally difficult to find the Snitch when it's pitch-black outside. Step up, step up."

And then went the Beaters, because, as Quinn put it, "it's bloody hard to avoid and then hit something you can't see." Finally it was Tess's turn. When she stepped out, everyone except two people did too.

_Going to have a lot of competition,_ Tess mused.

"Alright, you first Tess," Quinn said. "I'm the Keeper," he added to the two other people who hadn't tried out, "so if you're looking to be a Keeper you'll have to wait till next year. Here's the Quaffle, Tess, see if you can get it past me. You've got four tries." He mounted his broom and flew off to the brighter end of the pitch, where he hovered in front of the hoops.

Tess tucked the Quaffle under her arm. Her stomach was filled with butterflies. _It's just like running the ball when there's no one to pass to,_ she told herself. _And then someone gets open, but you have to get it past a defensive lineman. Bullet throws, all of them_.

She kicked off, shooting towards the clouds, then dove and hovered some fifty feet away from Quinn.

"Take your time," Quinn called.

Tess leaned forward and rushed at Quinn. She feinted to the left, then right. He wasn't buying it, but she had suspected he wouldn't. Quickly she calculated: he was about fifteen feet in front of the hoops, giving her plenty of space. As she continued at him he held his ground. At the last second, she swung herself under her broom, then back on top as soon as she'd passed beneath him, and chucked the Quaffle through the middle hoop. Then, as it fell, she looped around and caught it.

"Nice throw," Quinn called.

Grinning inwardly but keeping her face blank, she soared up and back to the middle of the pitch, turning to face Quinn. Again the butterflies came.

Tess leaned forward again, the Quaffle still under her arm. When she was about twenty feet in front of Quinn she threw the Quaffle and turned to the left. There was a groan from below as the large red ball flew straight at Quinn. He dove.

The Quaffle suddenly curved to the right and sailed through the right goal. Tess grinned. Even though it'd been a few years since she'd played baseball, she still had the curveball down cold.

Quinn retrieved the ball and tossed it at her. "Nice throw," he said again.

Tess nodded once and took off away from him.

This time she came at him from the left, then swooped in front of him and bullet-threw the Quaffle. Quinn caught it, but it bounced out of his fingers football fumble-style and tumbled through the right hoop. He whirled and stared openmouthed at it as it fell. Raven, waiting below the hoops in case one fell astray, darted up with the Quaffle, passed it to him, and darted back down.

"What was that?" Quinn demanded, turning to Tess and chucking the Quaffle at her.

She smiled. "That was a fumble."

And, tucking the Quaffle under her arm one last time, she flew away from the hoops and the baffled Keeper.


	8. Chapter 8

DRACO

You had to hand it to her, Draco thought. She was pretty good on a broom, and that flip over on the broom move had taken him months to master, but her throwing—that was the best part. She was going to make a splendid Chaser.

"And now's when you Confund her," Pansy Parkinson said, flopping down onto a seat next to him. Draco glanced at her behind his binoculars. "Why?"

"It's what you do," Pansy said, putting her head on his shoulder. Draco resisted the urge to Confund her instead of Tess.

He peered through his binoculars. Tess was zipping towards Quinn with a determined look on her face.

The Quaffle was gone.

"Holy—" Draco gasped.

"What?" Pansy asked.

"The Quaffle's gone," Draco muttered. He zoomed in and gasped again. The Quaffle was flying next to Tess.

"She threw it," Draco exclaimed. "She threw it and—"

He stopped talking and watched.

Tess and the Quaffle raced each other. Then, as the Quaffle neared the goalposts, it shot over Quinn and Tess shot under him. The ball and the girl reunited for a split second behind Quinn—

And then the Quaffle was soaring through the middle hoop.

"YEAH," Draco yelled, leaping to his feet and punching the air.

"What are you _doing_?" Pansy demanded. She pulled on his robes, yanking him back into his seat. Draco shut his mouth and stuffed his binoculars into his robes.

The rest of the potential Chasers tried out, and a fifth year was chosen for the last position. Draco grinned as he heard Quinn roaring, "ALRIGHT EVERYONE, TRYOUTS ARE OVER! NO, I AM NOT QUITTING THE TEAM SO YOU CAN BE A LOUSY KEEPER, MCFLANAHAN!"

Draco stood and started making his way out of the stands; before he could, Tess landed in front of him and dismounted. "What are you doing here?"

"Pansy insisted I come," Draco sneered, "so that I could Confund you."

Tess raised an eyebrow. "So why could I hear you cheering?"

"I wasn't cheering," he scoffed. "I was yelling 'dang'. You know, I'm surprised a Mudblood was accepted onto the team."

Instead of looking angry or hurt, Tess laughed. "Oh, Draco. You just never learn, do you? And look what I got." She held out her broom.

_SHE GOT A FIREBOLT?_ Draco screamed inwardly. He kept his face in its disgusted look and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Tess plowed on. "Pity you didn't wait a year to join the Slytherin team . . . then you could hone your nonexistent skills _and_ buy your way onto the team with the Firebolt, not the wimpy Nimbus Two Thousand and One."

Draco fumbled for words, but came up empty, so he gestured behind him for Pansy to speak. She did.

"Oh, yeah, Wilford?" She stepped up next to Draco. "How'd you get to be so 'good'? Did Quinn bewitch the ball for you? Or did you bribe him to let you score on him because you've got the best broom of the rest of them? Who knew that you'd go to such lengths to be noticed, Mudblood?"

"Nobody cares what you think, Parkinson," Tess said, looking positively unhurt. "Keep your potato nose out of other peoples' business from now on."

Pansy's hand flew to her nose. Then she whipped out her wand and pointed it in Tess's face. "No one asked you—"

"Nobody asked you either," Tess pointed out. Draco had to hold Pansy back so she didn't try to tackle Tess.

Tess mounted her broom. "Let me know when someone actually starts caring, okay? Then I can throw a party for you." She kicked off and soared away.

Draco hid a grin, thinking, _Get wrecked, Pansy_. He released her arms. "We should probably get back to the common room. Professor Snape'd be furious if he knew we were out when it's so dark."

"He wouldn't mind," Pansy protested. She looked ready to jump out of the stands and chase Tess back to Ravenclaw's common room. "You're his favorite."

"Which is why he'd be furious I'm out here," Draco said. "Come on." He slung his bag over his shoulder, pulled on Pansy's arm, and dragged her out of the stands with him. In Hogwarts, he remembered that he hadn't done his Potions homework (not that it _really_ mattered, but it was due tomorrow) and the two split up, Pansy to the common room and himself to the library. Once he was there he dumped his inkpot, quills, and parchment onto one of the desks and strode off to find a good Potions book.

An hour later he sat back and stared at his essay. It was about the difficulties of making an advanced form of the Polyjuice potion: how to make such a draught that one would turn into an animal. It included how to make the potion, all the necessary ingredients, and whether those ingredients were illegal.

He was shoving his things into his bag when he noticed a bloodred book at eye level. Intrigued by the color, he pulled it out.

_Darcke Magiyck: All One Kneedes to Knowe_, the title read. The author's name was illegible. Draco surreptitiously tucked the book into his bag, knowing that it was supposed to go in the Restricted Section and if he showed it to Madam Pince she'd banish him from the library for six weeks.

As he strolled past the front desk, Madam Pince jolted up from her chair. "What are you doing here?"

"My homework," Draco replied insolently. He dodged her claw-like hand as it tried to grab his collar and shot from the library.

When he got to the common room his heart was trying to force its way out of his chest; he had run nonstop from the library to the dungeons. He collapsed onto one of the couches in the common room, gasping.

"Where've you been, man?"

It was Blaise Zabini. He perched on the armrest of the couch opposite Draco's. "I mean, aside from classes. You've been gone all evening."

Draco sat up. "Wandering, doing homework." It was mostly the truth. "Oh, and I went to Ravenclaw's Quidditch tryouts—"

Blaise stood. "You what? You got a crush on that Mudblood or something?"

Draco rose swiftly. "Keep your voice down, Blaise! I went so I could Confund her."

"And did you?" Blaise asked.

"Nearly," said Draco. "Miscalculated, and then she put a Shield Charm up, so I couldn't without her knowing it was me."

Blaise shook his head. "A pity, that," he remarked.

"Definitely," Draco agreed. "Look, I'm tired—think I'm going to go to bed—feel free to stay up, though."

Blaise nodded and made his way across the room, towards Pansy Parkinson. Normally this would have made Draco try to curse Zabini behind his back; but he didn't feel like it, and besides: Pansy could take care of herself.

Draco made his way into the boys' dormitory, crept past Crabbe and Goyle's' beds (the two oafs were sound asleep, and Crabbe was drooling), and got into his pajamas. Then he sat on his bed and took Perch from his nightstand. He whispered the activation word.

Perch took one look at him and leaped to the foot of Draco's bed, his nose held high in the air. The rock sat with his back turned to the Slytherin.

"Oh, that's perfect," Draco snarled quietly. He pointed his wand at the hangings, making them snap shut, deactivated Perch, and then made both Crabbe and Goyle wake up by accidentally setting a large BANG from his wand.

Did his rock need food or something? Draco poked his head out of the hangings, Stunned Crabbe and Goyle, and slipped out of the dorms with his rock in his pocket. Then he realized he was in his pajamas and he changed. Then he somehow snuck unnoticed out of the dungeons.

He opened his palm, placed his wand on it, thinking of the kitchens, and whispered, "_Pergo Mihi_."

His wand spun in his palm and pointed to his right. Taking a deep breath, Draco started off.

His wand brought him to a halt in front of a painting of fruit. He was staring at it, trying to remember a spell that had a food-related word in it, when he heard a noise. He spun, his fingers closing over his wand, and whispered sharply, "_Rictusempra_!"

His spell bounced off one of the walls and headed straight at him. Draco dove to one side, then rolled over and propped himself up on his elbows in time to see the spell hit a pear. The fruit giggled and the painting swung open.

_You've got to tickle it,_ Draco realized. Grinning, he slipped inside and pulled the portrait shut behind him.

Instantly he was surrounded by house-elves, all clamoring for him to tell them what food he wanted, if he needed a drink. They steered him over to a table covered in a red-and-white checked cloth and forced him to sit.

One of the elves bounded on to the table. "What can we get you, Sir?"

Draco took his pet rock out of his pocket and activated him. Again, Perch swiftly turned his back.

"Oh!" the house elf squealed. "I know just the trick. Attend him!" With that, the elf leaped into the surrounding crowd and vanished.

Another elf took his place on the table. "What can I get you?"

"Well," Draco said slowly, "maybe a cup of coffee, and . . ." he shrugged. "Chocolate cake?"

"Good choice," the elf said, as two elves in the crowd ran off. "It's what she had too. Anything else I can get you?"

"No," Draco said. A mug of coffee was place in front of him and he traced the handle with his fingers, staring off into the distance. His mind was blank. This place was peaceful.

"Wait," he said. "Who?"

"The one who tried to teach us how to make brownies," the elf confided, handing Draco a plate with a huge slab of cake on it. "She said that a student named Malfoy would like it."

"Is she still here?" Draco demanded. He forgot all about the coffee.

"No!" The elf shuddered. "We do not welcome any who think they can make food better than we."

The second elf was brutally shoved off the table by the first elf, who was holding a large cooked steak. "You had something like this the first time you fed it?" the first elf asked.

"Yes," Draco said slowly.

"This type of pet rock is special. It only eats what it first ate," the elf informed him. "And it must be fed by your hand."

Draco ripped off a piece of steak and held it up to Perch's nose. The rock clipped his hand with its teeth when it went for the meat. Wincing, Draco ripped off another piece. Why had Tess wanted to make brownies? For him? That was very unlikely.

He looked up at the elf who had given him the steak. "Thanks. What's your name?"

The elf's eyes widened. "It is a pleasure to serve you, sir! My name is Kirk, sir!" It bowed politely, beaming. "Is there anything else I can get you, sir?"

"Nothing." Draco fed Perch another bite. The animal turned and rubbed shyly against his hand. Draco smiled. "Look, Kirk—if the student who wanted to make brownies for me comes down here again, could you tell me? And not let her go?"

"Of course, sir!" Kirk exclaimed.

A half hour later, Draco managed to peel himself away from the elves, claiming he was tired (not a lie) and that he'd receive detention if he was caught outside his common room this late (also not a lie).

Somehow he made it to the Slytherin dungeon without being caught. Most of the lights were out, and he had the common room all to himself. He sat near the fire and listened to the waves of the lake overhead lapping on the shore. He loved that the common room extended a little into the lake; the waves were soothing when he couldn't sleep.

"Speaking of sleeping," he murmured, waking Perch, who had been dozing off in his palm. "I should probably . . ."

His sentence was cut short by a yawn. He almost fell asleep right there, but a particularly loud snap from the dying fire startled him to reality. Realizing that he might sleep until morning unless he moved, he went to bed.

Draco got up late, but not so late that he had to skip his morning routine: get dressed, harass a few first years, and check the notice board. A visit to Hogsmeade was coming this weekend, and the password had been changed to 'king cobra'.

Pansy ran up to him, her face shining, and hugged him hard. Then she dashed away.

"What's up with her?" Draco asked, mostly to himself.

"Dunno," Goyle grunted.

"I wasn't talking to you," Draco snapped, turning on his crony.

"Can we go to the Great Hall?" Crabbe complained. "I'm starving."

"You're so needy," Draco groaned. "Go on." He shooed the two oafs away and scanned the common room. Pansy was in the corner, talking animatedly to her posse of giggly girls. He went over to the fireplace, pretending to practice the Fire-Making Charm (Incendio), while really listening in on their conversation.

"It was Blaise, not Draco," Pansy was exclaiming. "I can't believe it! Draco's going to be so angry."

"Is he?" one of her friends queried. "Lately he's been distracted."

"He's not giving you as much attention as he should," another agreed.

"Besides," the first friend went on, "he probably won't find out that Blaise kissed you, if you keep it quiet."

Shock coursed through Draco, followed by hardened resolve. He stowed his wand in his robes and stalked from the common room.

Blaise was going down.

He jogged to the Great Hall, shoving aside several Hufflepuffs in his haste.

"How kind of you," a voice behind him shouted. "Do you make it a point to knock people down wherever you go?"

Without stopping, Draco shot over his shoulder, "Do you make it a point to cheat your way onto the Quidditch team?"

He smacked into someone and stumbled back, his fingers flying to his nose to make sure there was no damage done. Standing in front of him was Quinn Jefferies, the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. He looked livid.

"You take that back," he growled, sticking his finger in Draco's face. "I do not choose members of my team based on their brooms, unlike a certain someone I happen to have once knew, _Malfoy_."

"Pity," Draco sniped. "If you did you might actually stand a chance against the other teams." He pushed past Jefferies into the Great Hall, a sneer fixed on his face.

"That's mine."

"No, it's not."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"I bought this with my own money—"

"Are you sure, because I seem to recall that it was my coins put on the counter—"

"I'm quite sure, you ugly toad-faced—"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP," Draco roared.

Crabbe and Goyle stopped scuffling over the package of candy and glared at him sullenly.

"Look," Draco said, trying to be patient. "If you can't agree on who bought it, you have two options. You can give it to me or split it in half."

It was snowing lightly, and there was already a good half foot of snow on the ground, so they sought shelter at the Three Broomsticks. He hailed Madam Rosmerta as the three of them found seats at the bar. "Three butterbeers, please." He pushed some coins across the counter.

A few minutes later, he slammed down his bottle of butterbeer. "If you two don't stop arguing I swear to God I will kill you both!"

"But he didn't split it evenly," Crabbe whined, pointing at Goyle.

Draco swelled up to shout, then thought better of it and took the package of candy. "Here's what we'll do." He stood, putting his scarf on his seat so no one took it, and crossed the room to the fireplace.

"WAIT," Crabbe and Goyle yelled as one.

Draco chucked the candy into the fire and returned to his seat. "Next time, don't argue so much," he ordered, watching the oafs through narrowed eyes.

He downed the rest of his butterbeer. "I'm going to take a walk. You two can either stay here or come with me."

It was still snowing outside when he left the bar, and the snow was an inch or two deeper. He wandered off towards the woods.

He hadn't had much time to think about the situation between Pansy and Blaise since he found out, and a walk in the forest seemed like a great time to do so. He was especially glad Crabbe and Goyle had opted to stay inside.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and blew out a breath of warm air, watching it cloud and drift away in the slight breeze. He didn't really care about what was going on between Pansy and Blaise. Last year he would have tried to get Professor Snape to expel Zabini. But he'd changed over the summer. He no longer cared so much about Pansy; she'd actually started to get annoying.

There was a creak from beneath his feet. He stepped forward, thinking he must have walked on a root. The creaking turned into a crack.

He let out a yell of surprise as he suddenly plunged into freezing cold water. The temperature and force of the fall onto the ice, then into the water paralyzed him for a few dangerous seconds. He tried to climb out of what must have been a stream, but his foot slipped on an underwater rock and he fell into the water again, this time face first.

Somehow he made it out of the stream (it involved lots of shouting of curses) and onto solid ground, gasping and shivering. Instinctively he tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't hold him; he collapsed.

All of a sudden he wasn't shivering.

His body was shutting down, giving up and trying to preserve what little heat it had left. He knew enough to let it; if he tried to move, it could cause severe damage to his kidneys.

Blackness was crowding at the edge of his vision. Desperately, he called out for help. Nothing happened.

Draco tried again.

He was so cold, and so tired. He just wanted to sleep.

_DO NOT GO TO SLEEP_, he told himself.

But it was getting harder and harder to hold onto consciousness. He was slipping away. No one would find him. He was going to die.

The blackness reared up and crashed down on him like a wave. He knew no more.

A/N: So cold, so cold . . . *claps hand over heart* OH, THE DRAMA!

Sorry, please don't mind my craziness. ;D


	9. Chapter 9

TESS

"You know, he didn't mean it," Quinn said.

Tess glanced up at the Quidditch captain. "Mean what?"

"He didn't mean what he said on Thursday, about you cheating your way onto the team," Quinn clarified.

They were in Hogsmeade, taking the walk up to the Shrieking Shack. Snowflakes were whipping past them, getting stuck in hair and on clothing. Tess didn't mind; she loved snow.

"Of course he did," Raven said. "Are you mad, Quinn? Have you ever even met Malfoy? He's a slimy git!"

Tess was about to agree when she heard a faint yell. "Shh," she hissed, clapping her gloved hands over both Quinn and Raven's mouths.

"I didn't hear anything," Quinn said, pushing her hand away.

The yell came again. This time it was a curse.

"It's coming from the woods," Tess told her two companions, and shot off in the direction of the voice.

It was hard, running through the woods at top speed through seven or eight inches of snow, but Tess made it work. She tripped twice, ran into a branch three times, and ran into a tree once. Raven and Quinn, behind her, didn't do any of these things. They were behind her. They learned from her mistakes.

Finally Tess reached the voice and skidded to a halt.

Malfoy was lying face down in the snow, his clothes crusted with ice and snowflakes in his hair. A few feet behind him was a stream, formerly iced over. The ice was broken.

Tess dropped to her knees and rolled Malfoy over. His skin was pale and his lips were blue. He was way too cold. She pushed his scarf away from his neck and checked his pulse. It was faint, very faint.

She stood and took out her wand. "We have to get him to the hospital wing."

She was about to raise him with magic when Quinn placed his hand on her arm. "Think, Tess. You could leave him here. Be rid of him."

Tess turned and punched him in the jaw. He went _down_.

"I don't agree with that," she snarled, pointing her wand at him. "That'd be _murder_. Anyone who suggests I leave him here deserves to go to Azkaban. Kick me off the Quidditch team if you want for saying that and punching you, but I _don't care_."

She waved her wand at Malfoy and murmured, "_Wingardium Leviosa_." His body rose.

Tess ran.

She nearly collapsed when she got to the hospital wing, she was so out of breath. She shoved her wand in her front jeans pocket and hoisted Malfoy's arm over her shoulder, wrapping her arm around his ribcage. His head lolled against her cheek, making her feel like frostbite was setting in. On both of them.

"Madam Pomfrey!" Tess shouted. _Oh, please be here please be here—_

"Whatever is the matter?" Madam Pomfrey asked, bustling out of her office. She saw Malfoy and gasped, her eyes going wide and her complexion several shades paler.

For a moment she didn't do anything. Then she snapped out of her stupor and commanded, "Put him on a bed and light a fire while I get Professor Dum—er, Snape."

Tess dragged Malfoy over to a bed and stripped his coat off him. Then she Transfigured several things of little importance into large glass bowls, which she put fire in and set around his bed. Then she went to the hospital wing fireplace and lit that, too.

Professor Snape entered as she was finishing up. His eyes lit upon Malfoy and he crossed the room in three strides. "Did you do this?" he demanded, his black eyes fixed on Tess.

"No," Tess said incredulously.

Suddenly Raven was at her side, panting. She was not so out of breath that she couldn't gasp out a defensive "She didn't do it, I swear I was with her the whole time we were in Hogsmeade—"

"Silence!" Snape growled, taking a menacing step towards the two students. "Miss Wilford, explain."

"Quinn, Raven, and I were walking near the woods, on the way to the Shrieking Shack," Tess began, "when I heard this yelling. I followed it and it turns out, Malfoy had fallen into a stream, dragged himself out, and passed out."

"How do you know this?" Snape said menacingly, prowling closer.

"The signs were everywhere," Tess said indignantly. "Look at his coat, it's covered in ice! He—"

"Professor," Madam Pomfrey interrupted. "Professor, I must tend to my patient and I am unable to do so when you are in the hospital wing! I ask that you remove yourself from this room at once!"

Snape huffed. "Show me where he fell."

Raven nearly tripped over her own feet in her haste to lead the headmaster from the room. Tess looked at Madam Pomfrey. "Uh . . . could you . . . will he be okay?"

"Yes, if he is alone," Madam Pomfrey said. "Shoo, child, shoo!"

Tess hurried after Snape and Raven.

"Look. I understand that you were worried and all, but did you have to punch me?"

Tess shrugged. "I was worried, and you were taking up valuable time."

She and Quinn were sitting on a log in the forest overlooking the lake, watching Raven try and fail at skipping stones. It had been two days since the Malfoy had nearly died, and although his condition was stable, he had yet to wake up.

"Why would you be worried about him?" Quinn asked.

_Yeah. Why would I be?_ "I was thinking that I'd probably get blamed anyway, for being in the vicinity, so. . . ." She realized that Quinn was staring at her and blushed. "I'm going to go see if I can help Raven with her rocks." She hopped off the log, still blushing, and joined Raven. "Look, hold the stone like this."

"I know," Raven protested.

Tess repositioned her friend's arm, and in doing so noticed the time. "Oh my goodness, Raven, we'll be late for Care of Magical Creatures if we aren't careful. Come on!"

She grabbed Raven's arm and dragged her away from the lake. "Care of Magical Creatures, Quinn!"

That night they had their first Quidditch practice. It went okay, but Tess's head wasn't in the sport and she dropped the Quaffle sixteen times before Quinn decided to call it a night. She went to bed with a fuzzy feeling in her head and a sick feeling in her stomach. She didn't know why.

"Tess. Tess! TESS! _TESS_!"

Tess rolled over, groaning, and rubbed her eyes. Raven was standing over her bed, looking cautiously optimistic. "Jeez, it took you long enough! Malfoy's awake."

Tess was out of her bed and in her clothes before she knew what she was doing. Ignoring Raven's shocked look, she tore out of Ravenclaw Tower, arriving in the hospital wing in record-setting time. Just as she was raising her hand to knock on the door, she wondered why she was doing this.

She knocked anyway.

Madam Pomfrey opened the door. "Oh, it's you. Come on in."

Tess stepped inside and halted. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were in the hospital wing. Narcissa was sitting on the edge of Draco's bed, and Lucius was talking quietly with Snape.

"Hmm," Madam Pomfrey said. "Maybe—"

She broke off as Narcissa glanced over her shoulder. In the blink of an eye, she had crossed the room and embraced Tess. "Thank you," Draco's mother gasped. "Thank you so much for saving him!"

"I—er—it was no problem," Tess stammered weakly, trying to bear through the hug bravely. Finally Narcissa released her and stood back. "Draco, dear, we'll be leaving now, but if you have any issues or problems, contact us immediately, okay?"

"Yes, mother," Draco muttered.

Lucius walked over to Narcissa. He gave a short icy nod to Tess and guided his wife out of the room. With a suspicious glare, Snape followed.

"I thought you weren't allowed to send anything," Tess said to Draco, crossing the room to sit on one of the beds next to his.

He glared at her.

"Snape said so," Tess defended.

"Whatever," Malfoy snapped. "I won't have any problems."

Tess held up her hands. "Don't attack me; I thought it was a rule."

"It is for you," Malfoy said.

Neither of them said anything for a while. Then Malfoy spoke. "Thanks."

Tess, who had been examining her fingernails, looked up swiftly. "Say what?"

"Thanks," Malfoy mumbled awkwardly. "For—you know. Saving my life."

Tess was tempted to ask if he'd ever said thank you in his life. Then she thought better of it. This was a once in a lifetime chance. Better to take hold of it than ruin it. "No problem." She smiled.

Malfoy half-grinned back.

The letter came two weeks later.

Tess was eating breakfast and half listening to what Raven was saying (it was about Jack Ryans, whoever the heck that was). The windows to the Great Hall opened and owls flooded in. Seeing Eliic amongst them, Tess stood and held her arm out so he didn't plow into the pumpkin juice on the table.

"Got an owl?" Luna asked, sliding into the seat beside her. "That's nice, albeit probably prohibited."

"Yeah," Tess agreed. She untied the letter from Eliic's leg and sent him off again. The writing on the letter was unfamiliar, but she opened it anyway.

_Your mother, father, and two sisters have been killed by Death Eaters._

It took her several minutes to actually register this fact. She shoved the letter into her robes and stumbled blindly from the hall. Then she ran.

She found an empty classroom and collapsed to the floor, stared at the ceiling. Why? Why? Why had Lucius Malfoy seen fit to kill her family? She had just saved his son's life, and he repaid her by murdering her family?

_Of course, they're not dead,_ she reasoned. _Dad's most likely an excellent wizard, and Mum's probably great also._

She swallowed hard, then shrank into the shadows as a group of students filed past the doorway.

She was at the door and out and running before she knew it. She didn't know why she was running or why she was so angry until she saw Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.

With a feral scream of rage, she was on Crabbe, punching every inch of him she could reach. She broke his nose, his wrist, and fractured his collarbone before Goyle could drag her off. Crabbe lurched away, holding his good hand to his nose, then turned tail and ran for the hospital wing.

Satisfied, Tess turned her attention to Goyle. First she wrenched herself out of his headlock (Ow). Next she ran down the hall. Then she spun and ran at him again. As she was running she whipped out her wand and shot several hexes at him. He went down.

She heard a whistling sound and ducked reflexively. A jet of red light darted over her head and slammed into Goyle, who was just starting to get up. He went down again.

Tess leapt up, spinning with a spell coming out of her wand before she was even halfway around. Malfoy was already dropping to the floor. By the time he was back on his feet, Tess was two feet away and lunging. He came up just in time to be tackled viciously. His head hit the floor with a resounding crack. His eyes crossed for a moment.

"What are you _DOING_?" he demanded. He shoved her off and staggered to his feet. Unharmed, Tess jumped up and punched him in the jaw so hard he stumbled into the wall.

"I'm getting revenge," Tess snarled. She went to punch him in the stomach, but he had already leapt aside, so she nearly punched stone.

"Revenge—what?" Malfoy picked his wand up from the floor where he'd dropped it and held it out in front of him.

"Your father," Tess growled, "killed my family!"

Shock registered on Malfoy's face. "Say what? No he didn't! Prove it!"

Tess pulled out the letter and shoved it in his face. She was trembling with anger and hatred and she wanted to see the Malfoy family dead on the ground like her family was—

"Uh, it doesn't say who killed them," Malfoy pointed out.

"Death Eaters!" Tess shouted.

"Yeah."

"Your father!"

"What?"

"YOUR FATHER IS A DEATH EATER," Tess screamed. "HE KILLED MY FAMILY! I SAVE YOUR LIFE AND HE REPAYS ME BY KILLING MY PARENTS!"

"My father is not a Death Eater," Malfoy informed her. He seemed quite calm.

"LIKE I'M GOING TO BELIEVE THAT," Tess bellowed. "HE WENT TO AZKABAN FOR A YEAR, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" She tried to hex him, but he deflected the spell. "I WILL KILL HIM IF I EVER SEE HIM AGAIN!"

"Feel free," Malfoy said idly. "Just keep in mind that if you do try, it's you who's most likely going to end up dead, not him."

Tess was shaking with fury, but she lowered her wand. "You're lucky," she spat. "Lucky that I'm letting off so easy. I'll get my revenge some other time." She snatched the letter out of Malfoy's hands, then sprinted off. As she was running, she hurtled around a corner and nearly plowed into Professor McGonagall. "Professor!"

"Miss Wilford," Professor McGonagall exclaimed, dropping the stack of scrolls she had in her arms. Tess scrambled to help retrieve said scrolls. When they were all piled safely back in the Transfiguration teacher's arms, Tess asked, "Uh, could I go to the headmaster's office? I'd like to be excused from classes for the rest of the day. Week if it's possible." She had no idea how she was staying collected like this. She would have thought that she would be breaking down in tears right about now.

"Whatever do you need that for?" McGonagall asked.

Now Tess was starting to feel insecure and unsupported. She wanted to sit down. Instead she forced her legs to straighten, drawing on some hidden reserve of mental strength, and handed McGonagall the dreadful letter.

The professor skimmed the letter, her eyes widening with each word. At last she looked up and said scratchily, "You're excused from classes until you see fit to return, Miss Wilford. If anyone asks, say I said you could." She paused. "I'm sorry, but weren't they Muggles?"

"No." Tess shook her head. "Henry and Kendra Wilford. Ministry of Magic."

"Oh," McGonagall said.

Tess took back the letter. "I'll just be in the common room." Slowly she walked past the professor. She waited until she'd turned the corner before breaking out in a steady lope. She passed Raven and Quinn in the halls and instead of going to their classes, they obviously saw that something was wrong and fell into step behind her.

She ignored them.

Alexa and Sadie were too annoying to kill. They'd find a way out somehow, right? And Mom and Dad . . . supposedly they were wizards, they could have Apparated out with Sadie and Alexa.

Tess kept making silent excuses as she ran, and when she got to the entrance to the staircase to Ravenclaw Tower, she sped up, leaving Raven and Quinn a few meters behind, and turned left instead of going straight. Immediately on the other side of the arch, she spun aside and dove into the wall. For anyone other than a Ravenclaw, it would have hurt like heck and they would have cursed loudly.

But for her, she passed right through the wall because she was a Ravenclaw. She fell several meters and landed on a trampoline. She bounced for a while to ease her momentum. She forced herself not to think about her family.

As she climbed off the trampoline, torches lining the walls flared up. Tess looked around. This was the Room of Requirement number two. The difference: it stayed in one place.

Today the Room was a library, and stacked on the tables was parchment and empty notebooks. Beside the piles were a few inkpots and quills.

Tess went to the tables and took a notebook from the piles. It was plain and brown, with the word _Diary_ carved into the leather cover and painted black. Tess picked up a quill, opened the book, and wrote. When she was done she sat back and reread the entry.

_December 3__rd_

_I received a terrible letter today. My family, apparently, is dead. They have been killed by Death Eaters. I punched Crabbe and hexed Goyle, because they both have Death Eater parents, and I also walloped Malfoy a few times, although not enough to make him bleed. Sadly. He was quite calm about the situation. I shoved the letter in his face and called his father a Death Eater. He said that was false. It was quite a different reaction than the last time I called Lucius Malfoy a Death Eater. That time he slammed me up against the wall and snarled in my face._

_Recently I saved Malfoy's life, and his father repays me by killing my family. Is this a way of saying that if I touch his son again, even if it's to help him, there'll be even worse consequences? I don't think that's possible. If he tortures me, maybe . . . but death I think I would welcome._

_Maybe._

_I'm not afraid of death. These days I wonder if I'm afraid of anything. To be fearless is to be foolish._

_Raven and Quinn are probably looking for me. I don't care. My family is dead. They should leave me alone. I don't want their sympathy._

_Well . . . I see many good books awaiting me, and I could finish my homework in here and turn it in by way of Raven, because even if I'm not going to classes I need to keep up with the homework._

_Tess_

She moved the notebook aside and propped it open so the ink could dry. A book appeared on the table. The cover read _A Guide to Defense Against the Dark Arts: Everything (Spells, Potions, etc.) You Will Ever Need to Know_.

Tess grabbed a sheet of parchment, leaving her quill in the inkpot, and scanned the table of contents. The Potions homework was to write a three-scroll essay on the Wolfsbane Potion, and a paragraph about the potion was anywhere (it wasn't in the assigned schoolbook) it would be here. Sure enough, she found a whole chapter on werewolves, how to heal a wound caused by one, what to do if you were bitten by a werewolf in full moon, and many other things, along with the Wolfsbane Potion.

"First off," Tess murmured as she wrote, "the Wolfsbane Potion is a very creative name, seeing as wolf means 'wolf' and bane means 'harmful or deadly to'."

She kept at it well into the day, and by the time she had managed to put her essay onto five scrolls, it was way past lunchtime. Her stomach growled impatiently.

She was glad for the work, glad that it was there to keep her mind off of . . . things. She didn't want to think about the letter.

Tess collected her scrolls, piled them in her arms, and went to the trampoline, where, on the wall, there was a ladder. She somehow managed to get up the ladder without dropping any of her scrolls, and once she got to the top she realized she could have used a simple Levitating Charm. Cursing herself for her stupidity, she went out the door and started up the stairs to the Ravenclaw common room.

She dropped her homework there and went right back down. She wandered the halls aimlessly for a few minutes. Her stomach growled, but she could tell from the lighting that she couldn't go to the Great Hall for lunch, because lunch had been over for three hours.

So Tess made her way down to the painting of the fruit, and she tickled the pear, and climbed through the portrait hole, and asked the elves for warm butterbeer, a thick slice of hearty bread, and a large amount of chocolate ice cream.

When it arrived she dove into the bread, saving the never-melting ice cream for last because it didn't make sense to eat dessert and then the main course.

She was just starting on the ice cream when someone said, "That's a lot of ice cream."

Tess jackknifed up, still holding the ice cream bowl. "Why are you down here?"

"Everyone's got a right to visit the kitchens," Malfoy said, spreading his hands peacefully.

Tess threw the ice cream in his face.

And then, of course, she ran. Running and homework were the only things she could really do all that well these days.

She ran out of the kitchens and down the hall, tore around the corner, and shot smack into Quinn.

From his position on the floor amongst shattered inkpots, broken quills, and fallen schoolbooks (from his bag), Quinn said most cheerfully, "Why, there you are! Raven and I've been looking for you for ages!"

Tess scrambled around, shoving things that were still in good shape back into his bag. "_Reparo_. Good for you. I need to play Quidditch."

This was such an odd collection of sentences that it took Quinn a moment to respond. "Um . . . there's a practice tonight. . . ."

"I need to play right now," Tess said forcefully.

"Go get in your robes, then," Quinn said, pushing her arm lightly. "I'll get Raven and we'll meet you out on the pitch."

Tess shot through one of the hoops on top of the goalpost, pressed low to her broom to avoid slamming into the rim. "SCOOOOOORRRREEEE," she bellowed.

Raven, riding wildly on her broom, twisted around the three goals and joined her, racing side by side. "If you're the Quaffle," she said, and feinted to the left. To avoid her Tess zipped forward a few meters.

Raven tossed her the Quaffle. "Quinn's on the other end of the field," she said.

As they flew down the field, they branched apart and threw the Quaffle back and forth rapidly. If anyone had tried to go between them they would have gotten a concussion, the ball was going so fast.

Just as they were about to crash into Quinn, they arced to the left, leaving Tess to score the goal. She flung the Quaffle at the hoop so hard Quinn didn't try to catch it, he just dove out of the way.

Breathing hard, Tess waited for Raven to retrieve the Quaffle and join her again. This time when the Quaffle was passed to her she passed it right back. Raven soared off.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah," Tess replied.

"That throw was a little hard," Quinn said.

"Yeah, well." Tess shrugged. She heard the whistle of a broom and dropped beneath Quinn, then raced to the side, hovering in front of one of the hoops.

Raven made as if she was going to try to score, but instead she threw the Quaffle to Tess, who didn't want it and threw it back. Quinn had zipped over to protect the hoop Tess was in front of, and he didn't have time to stop Raven from scoring.

Tess cheered. "Yeah! Nice throw!"

"We should make a name for that maneuver," Raven exclaimed.

"What about the Wilford feint?" Quinn suggested.

Tess's broom dropped several feet in the air, she was so surprised. "No." She spurred it back up to where it'd been before. "No, it sounds too much like the Wronski feint."

Quinn blinked at her hard tone. Raven seemed taken aback too, but she recovered faster than Quinn. "Well, then what about the Wilford—"

"The Davis feint." Tess spoke with authority, leaving no room for protests. "Let's see if we can make it a three person play, hmm?"

She dove, streaking down to where the Quaffle had landed in the sand beneath the scoring hoops.

After Quidditch practice Tess went back to the Room of Requirement Number Two. It didn't show up as the library; it became a room with stack upon stack of Quaffles. In the corner were a bunch of Silver Arrow broomsticks. Tess picked up a Quaffle and Transfigured it into an American football. She gripped it tightly, her fingers finding their usual place on the laces. Then she threw it.

She spent the next good part of an hour practicing football plays, thinking about playing catch out in the backyard with Dad. He had always been better than her at throwing it.

"Tess?"

Tess fingered the hangings on her bed but didn't answer. She wasn't in the mood to answer. She wasn't in the mood to do anything. She stared at the canopy on her bed, feeling miserable.

"Tess, you missed dinner," Raven said.

Tess was tempted to let out a loud, unconvincing snore, but she held it in. She didn't want to talk.

She heard Raven sigh about Tess never telling her anything. There was a creak of bedsprings and a swish of curtains. A few minutes later Raven snored.

Tess slipped out of her bed, still fully dressed, and walked. When she arrived at the kitchen, she asked the elves for fettuccine Alfredo, white rolls, and root beer, and sat down on a couch near the fire, tucking her legs up on the armrest side.

An elf placed her food on the table and scuttled away. Tess ate half of the pasta, decided she couldn't eat, and asked, "Could I bake some brownies?"

"NO!" came the collective shout. At once the elves shoved her off the couch and jostled her towards the door. Tess tried to explain, but before she could there was a loud BANG and Malfoy shot through the portrait hole. "Settle down," he commanded the elves. Tess flinched at the harshness in his tone, but evidently the elves were used to it; they stopped pushing at her legs and shrank back.

"Why are they bothering you?" Malfoy said, looking at Tess.

She waited for the insult that was sure to come, but it didn't. She shrugged. "I wanted to make brownies . . . reminds me of home. . . ."

"This girl's _family_ was _killed_ sometime in the last week," Malfoy told the elves. "She gets to make brownies, you understand?"

The elves gradually came to nod as one.

"What ingredients do you need?" Malfoy turned to Tess with a questioning look in his gray eyes.

"Uh . . ." Tess tried to remember what she needed. Slowly she recalled and spoke. When all the things she needed were on the table nearest to her, she set to work. Her hands fell into the soothing rhythm of measuring sloppily and her eyes judged without a care. She poured the batter into a pan and shoved it into the oven.

Feeling a burst of hunger, she ate three of the white rolls and laid on the couch for fifteen minutes, staring at the high stone ceiling and thanking the heavens for kitchens and elves. Malfoy was either gone or hiding in the pantry. Probably the former.

The timer sounded. By the time Tess had scrambled over the back of the couch, the elves had already taken the two pans out of the oven. She found a knife and sliced the brownies in the pan.

"Remember when I showed up in your room and you dropped the plate?" Malfoy's voice asked.

So he had been hiding in the pantry?

Tess finished cutting the brownies before she said anything. "Hardly forgettable. That was also the day I learned my whole life was a lie, you brought me to your house, my scar was opened up by your father, and I took a ride on the Knight Bus."

"Well. Sorry about that." Malfoy reached for a brownie. If he'd known anything about cooking he wouldn't have touched the dessert, because it was still very hot. He touched it and jerked his hand back, wincing. "Ow."

"The oven is hot," Tess informed him, a sarcastic note creeping into her voice. It was an inside joke with her sisters, starting out as _the glue gun is hot_ and evolving into things such as _the oven is hot_ and _fire is hot_ and such.

Something wet dripped onto her hand. She looked up instinctively, thinking it was raining, then realized that since she was in a building, it couldn't be raining. She swallowed hard. Her nose was getting that feeling, the one it always got when she cried. She closed her eyes. Not here. Anywhere but here. Anywhere but right in front of Malfoy.

Well, maybe not anywhere.

Tess sniffed, wishing there was a spell to make someone stop crying. She blinked and walked several paces away without explanation.

"Uh . . . Tess?"

She didn't answer.

"Are you okay?"

When Tess still didn't answer, there was a sort of grunt. "Duh. Of course you aren't. Why do people ask that, anyway?"

She'd been thinking the same thing.

Malfoy touched her arm. "You want me to get you one of your brownies?"

It was those words that made her sob. Suddenly she was crying and she couldn't stop even though she wanted to.

Malfoy put his arm around her shoulders, a gesture that would have made her hex him if she hadn't been in such an emotional state. Instead she leaned into his chest and slowly hugged him back, letting herself cry.


	10. Chapter 10

DRACO

"Draco!"

Draco groaned, batting at the hand on his shoulder.

"Draco, please, you'll be late for class!"

He blinked open his eyes. He was back in the Slytherin common room, and Crabbe was shaking him away urgently.

"C . . . class?" Draco slurred, his voice thick with sleep.

"Potions!" Goyle's face appeared over Crabbe's shoulder. "We'll be late for Potions and Snape will give you h—"

"I get it," Draco snapped. He dressed, found his bag, and ran for Potions. His stomach rumbled uncomfortably as the trio ran, and Crabbe heard it. He pulled a large chocolate square of . . .

"Brownie?" Draco gasped. He snatched the block out of Crabbe's hand and sniffed deeply. "Where did you get this?"

"It was on the table in the Great Hall," Crabbe said, stunned.

"No kidding," Draco breathed. He held the brownie up to the light, wondering if it was some kind of joke. Then he took a bite.

Flavor flooded his tongue, rich and chocolaty and delightful. If bliss could be turned into food this would be it. "I love it," he said, although it came out as "I wowfv ifth".

"I know," Goyle exclaimed enthusiastically, understanding him despite the mouthful of food. "It's great!"

"I wonder where the recipe came from," Crabbe added thoughtfully, stroking his chin in an attempt to look intelligent. All it did was make him look ridiculous. "I'd like to learn it."

Draco smiled inwardly in the silence. _I know where it came from, and if you found out you'd barf._

As the quiet stretched on, he realized that Crabbe's statement was a cue for him to say something nasty. "You? Learn something?" He sneered. "I'd like to see you learn the alphabet."

"He knows the alphabet," Goyle protested.

"Yeah," Crabbe agreed. "A, B, C, D, B, X, Z, H, I, J, K, E, S—"

"That's enough," Draco said quickly, before it turned into Crabbe trying to come up with a letter, Goyle offering suggestions that the former waved away, and Draco trying to get them to class on time. It had happened before.

Someone brushed by him, head lowered. It was Tess; Draco recognized her because she wasn't wearing robes, just a simple gray sweater and black jeans, along with worn-out Converse.

"You go on ahead," Draco told Goyle. Crabbe was stuck on M, even though he'd said all the other letters.

"'Kay," Goyle said, nodding. "Crabbe. Crabbe! CRABBE! Yeah. Hi. Still here. We've got to get to Potions. . . ."

Draco didn't hear the rest of what Goyle was saying. He hurried after Tess, keeping several feet behind her and ducking into nooks every time she turned around. She was heading towards Ravenclaw tower . . . but at the entrance to the staircase, she turned left. Draco sped up. He jogged through the arch just in time to see Tess step furtively through the wall. He lunged forward and grabbed hold of her arm. With a sucking sound, he was falling. He landed on a trampoline and bounced to his feet instinctively, drawing his wand. Then, before he could do anything, he was pushed backwards into the stone wall behind him and the tip of a wand was pushed up to his throat, cutting off his breath. "_How did you_—oh. You."

Tess relaxed, lowering her wand. Draco found he could breathe normally again. He tucked his wand back into his robes slowly. "Me."

"Why did you follow me?"

There were tear tracks on her face. Draco wondered idly if she'd been crying again. Duh. Of course she had been. "Because . . . um . . . I wanted to see why you weren't going to Potions, or whatever your first class is."

"Well that's none of your business," Tess said sharply, "now is it?"

She spun, bouncing a little, and climbed down from the trampoline, and walked away. Draco hadn't really been paying attention to the rest of the room, but now as he watched her stalk into the middle of it, he looked around. They were in a huge room, quite unlike a typical Hogwarts room, and the walls were entirely bookshelves, except for a small patch behind him. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling. In the center of the room was a small patch of tables, while closer to the bookshelves were chairs and couches, all with end tables on one side. The tables had built-in never-melting candles.

"Nice place," Draco commented.

"You're not supposed to be in here!" Tess whirled angrily, her green eyes blazing. Her hair was in a long over-the-shoulder braid. "This is a Ravenclaws only room!"

"What is it?" Draco asked, clambering down from the trampoline. He eyed the bookshelves and turned to Tess.

"A second Room of Requirement," Tess confessed. "But it's supposed to be only for people in Ravenclaw."

"Maybe it's kind of like the Fidelius Charm," Draco said. "If you Apparate inside the Fidelius Charm border thingy with someone else, then you're a Secret Keeper too, and you can bring people in. I was touching you when you went through the wall."

"How do you even know about the Fidelius Charm?" Tess demanded.

"It's on our house," Draco blurted. "So the Ministry can't fin—" He stopped when he realized what he'd been about to say. "So . . . um. . . ."

"I see," Tess said sarcastically. "Use your words. So the Ministry of Magic can't find you because your father's a Death Eater. Don't bother trying to deny it; Harry Potter—"

"_Don't speak to me about Potter_!" Draco shouted, disgust and anger mixing to form a very dangerous formula.

"Why not?" Tess asked calmly. "Do you hate him so much? Are you jealous that he's so famous and you're not? Even though Lucius Malfoy, who has close ties to the Minister of Magic and is a Death Eater, is your father, you just don't get any attention, but Harry 'Chosen One' Potter does. I know what your problem is, Draco."

Draco pulled himself up to his full height, about to say a few choice words to the short girl in front of him, but before he could, she plowed on. "Your problem's attention, Draco. You need attention. Lucius Malfoy's always going on about how he hates Harry Potter but he never pays attention to you. He didn't even congratulate you when you nearly killed me, a Mudblood . . ." Pity was showing in her eyes. "You want attention, Draco Malfoy." She shook her head, smiling sadly. "And you'll go to any lengths to get it."

Draco swallowed hard, feeling as if he'd ripped his heart from his chest, shoved it in Tess's face, and said, "READ THIS!" She had everything right. He just wanted to do something that would make his father pay attention to him.

"Do you need help with your homework?" Tess asked, acting as though she hadn't just bared his soul.

He couldn't speak, just pointed in the general direction of Potions.

"Nah," Tess said. "I've got off from classes for as long as I need, because of . . ." She trailed off, then continued: "And you're the teacher's pet. Snape won't give you detention." She crossed to one of the tables. What was with her? First she was shoving her wand into his throat, then acting like he was four, then telling him how he was feeling, and now she was trying to help him with his homework.

"I don't need help," Draco got out. His chest felt like Crabbe was sitting on it. He slowly joined her at the table, sitting opposite her, and dumped his bag on the seat beside him. "You got anything on the Wolfsbane Potion?"

"Oh, yeah . . ." Tess looked around distantly. "It was here somewhere . . ." A book floated off the shelf behind her and placed itself on the table between them. Draco picked it up. "_A Guide to Defense Against the Dark Arts: Everything (Spells, Potions, etc.) You Will Ever Need to Know_? Isn't that a little presumptuous?"

"Well, look at the size of it," Tess pointed out. "It's approximately six inches thick. Do you have a spare quill?" She had a piece of parchment in front of her. Draco dug into his bag and came up with a dark gray quill with white spots.

They worked in silence for several hours, and by the time Draco was done his essay, it was ten scrolls long instead of three. He had crammed every single scrap of information in that he could.

"Wow," Tess exclaimed, standing and bending over his stack of scrolls. "That's a _lot_."

"I know," Draco said ruefully. "I have no idea how I'm going to be able to fit them in my bag."

"Let me see it." Without waiting for him to give it to her, Tess took his bag and unceremoniously dumped out its contents. Then she shoved her wand in the bag, muttering a few words. Then she stuck her head in it. "Oh, yeah," she crowed, her voice muffled. "I did it!" She proceeded to tuck her entire body in. "I DID IT!"

Draco reached across the table and pulled the bag off of her. "What did you do?"

"I cast an Undetectable Extension Charm on it," Tess gasped, her hair frizzed from being in the bag. "Go on, stick your arm in!"

Draco tentatively did. His arm went all the way in. "Holy—how did you that?"

"It may be a bit difficult to keep track of things," Tess admitted, "but it's plenty big enough."

Draco loaded all the contents and peered inside. "There's still room," he exclaimed.

"Yeah." Tess looked pleased with herself.

"Will I be able to put Perch in here without losing him?" Draco asked, glancing up from the bag.

"P—what? Who?"

"Perch," Draco said. Then he realized that Tess didn't know who Perch was. He delved into his pocket and pulled out the pet rock, already whispering the activation word. He placed Perch on the table and let him explore.

"You have one too?" Tess exclaimed. A smile crossed her face and she also took out her pet rock. "I named mine Glaedr."

The two dragonlike pets approached each other warily, sniffing the other's nose. Slowly Perch stepped back.

Glaedr ran around Perch, stopping in front of Draco. He bared his teeth and bit down on Draco's finger, not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough to hurt.

"Glaedr!" Tess exclaimed, lunging across the table. She tried to snatch her rock away, but Glaedr didn't let go for a full two minutes.

"I'm really sorry," Tess apologized, cradling Glaedr up to her chest (this was after he let go). "I didn't think—OW!"

Perch had fastened himself to her finger.

"Whoa, whoa," Draco said softly, touching his rock's back with one finger. "Let go, little buddy."

There was a short intake of breath from Tess.

_"__This shows that I like her. It was the same with Glaedr."_

Draco stumbled backward, all the blood leaving his face. He tripped over his chair and almost fell down, but caught himself before he hit the floor. He wracked his mind for an explanation, but the only one he could come up with was that Perch had telepathically talked to him.

Tess was wearing an expression that matched what Draco was feeling. "Glaedr talked . . ."

"So did Perch," Draco said slowly.

They sat in silence, staring at their rock pets. Suddenly Perch let go of Tess's finger and she sighed in relief. "Ow.

"So you like Coldplay?" Tess said, absently scratching Glaedr's chin.

_How did she find out? This girl knows everything! _"How'd you know?"

Tess explained how Draco had said _I believe in miracles_ and she knew that was close to one of the lines from _Miracles_, a Coldplay song, and that it was her who played Violet Hill that one day in the Great Hall, and she'd seen him mouthing the words, so he either liked Coldplay or he was forced to listen to it every day.

Draco leaned back in his chair, shaking his head slowly. "You are brilliant," he told her, awe creeping into his voice. "Remarkably amazingly terrifically wondrously brilliant."

Tess locked gazes with him. Then she blushed, smiling.

_"__Someone is looking for you!"_ Perch's voice echoed through Draco's head and he rubbed his temples. This telepathy thing was going to take some getting used to. He scooped up his pet rock, slung his bag over his shoulder, and looked around for the exit. "How do I get out?"

_"__Better hurry, Draco . . . you're about to miss Quidditch practice. . . ."_

"Over there," Tess said, pointing at the wall behind the trampoline. "There's a ladder. Why?"

"I'm about to miss Quidditch practice," Draco said. He ran to the trampoline, shot on, and scrambled up the ladder. "Thanks! Bye!"

He passed through the wall and hurtled to Quidditch practice, pausing only to cast the Summoning Charm to get his broom. It caught up with him as he was running out onto the Quidditch pitch. He dropped his bag, shoved Perch in his pocket, and vaulted onto his broomstick.

"Took you long enough," Urquhart called. "We're skirmishing Hufflepuff as practice and we've had to use Harper!"

"Couldn't find my broom," Draco lied smoothly. He joined the Captain and looked around. "Where is Hufflepuff, anyway?"

"Taking a time out," Urquhart informed him. "The Keeper took a Bludger to the nose."

"Nice." He felt sick. Not nice at all.

"Yeah."

They floated side by side for a while. When Hufflepuff didn't show for ten minutes, Draco took off around the pitch, enjoying the wind in his hair. Finally Hufflepuff shot back onto the pitch. The Keeper looked fine.

"Blow it, Harper," Urquhart called down to where Harper had landed on the grass.

Harper lifted a whistle to his lips and blew hard. The note was okay at first, but then it became piercing. Draco winced, his hands automatically going to his ears. The Snitch buzzed past his nose.

Instantly he was on alert. He grabbed at it, but it flitted out of his reach. The Hufflepuff Seeker, Summerby, whipped past his broom with an outstretched hand.

Draco raced after Summerby, overtaking him easily. He spurred his Nimbus Two Thousand and One faster until he was next to the Snitch. He reached out—

The Snitch dropped at least one hundred feet. Draco dove after it. He reached out again and clasped the Snitch in his hand, pulling up sharply when he had it. "Yes!"

Of course, it wasn't a real game, but he felt good all the same. And Summerby was a twit anyway. Thought he was the best in school. Maybe this spectacular defeat would take him down a few notches.

"Why are you so excited?" Summerby asked. "This isn't a real game."

"It may as well be," Draco retorted, "because I'm going to be just as good when we play each other in May."

"I feel sick," Draco groaned. He absently rubbed the inside of his left forearm, staring at the piece of toast on his plate. He hadn't touched it.

"You okay?" Crabbe was stuffing his face with eggs and French toast washed down by a mixture of pumpkin and pear juice.

"I don't think so."

"You should see Madam Pomfrey," Goyle suggested.

"It's not that bad," Draco said, feigning a brave face. "Maybe I'll just go to Potions with you . . ."

"Not if you feel bad," Crabbe protested, spraying eggs across the table.

"Eurgh." Draco swallowed hard, like he was trying not to throw up, and stood abruptly. "Allergic reaction to something maybe—"

He clapped his hand over his mouth and sprinted from the hall. Once outside, he ran a few paces, glancing over his shoulder, and stopped. No one was following him; he dropped the sick act and took off running. He had decided to go to Hogsmeade. How Draco was going to get out without being caught, he had no idea, but he'd think of something.

He ran for the dungeons. Maybe someone had a sort of . . . oh. Duh. He'd hated going in, but he'd visited Fred and George Weasley's joke shop, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and bought a lot of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. When he reached the Slytherin boys' dormitories, he kicked open his trunk, grabbed three of the containers, and ran back out. He had less than a minute to get to the gates down to Hogsmeade.

The caretaker, Argus Filch, was just closing the gates when Draco arrived. He threw a pellet down and ran on. By the time the darkness cleared, Draco was in Hogsmeade, lying in the snow and staring up at the cloudy sky, trying to catch his breath.

At last he got up and went to look around. He spotted a nice looking bookstore, Tomes and Scrolls, and decided to take a look. There wasn't much of interest. He also went into Zonko's Joke Shop, but nothing appeared to him there either. So he went into Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, where he bought a packet of quills and a fancy snake inkpot for himself. Then, completely out of ideas, he went into Honeydukes.

Tess liked chocolate, right? He browsed the chocolate section and came across a large box of chocolates and truffles. According to the box, as soon as you ate one, another popped up in its place. He bought it (it was six Galleons!) and went back up to the castle, properly equipped. He stopped fifty feet from the gates, though, hidden behind a bush. Filch was prowling around the gate, glaring and muttering. Draco put his packages on the ground, pulled a pellet of the Instant Darkness Powder out of his pocket, and threw it at the stone archway. It shattered.

Again, he ran through the gates in the cover of darkness. Again, by the time the black had faded, revealing a ranting and raving Filch, Draco was long gone.

Draco woke early on Christmas Day, looking at the stone walls of the dormitory. He'd signed up to go home, then canceled at the very last second, leaving Crabbe and Goyle to get on the train by themselves. The oafs would live.

He scrambled to the end of his bed. There were only a few packages, but it was to be expected. Who gave gifts to a Slytherin? There was a present from Mum, Dad, Aunt Bellatrix (ew, why would she give him a present?), one from a random family member he'd never met, and one from Tess. He stared at the small package in surprise and confusion. Girls could be so perplexing. He placed the package on his bed and tore open the one from his mother. It was a black leather-bound notebook that looked a lot like a diary and a round Muggle speaker.

"Oh, god," he muttered. "Really? You couldn't send me anything better?" His mother always gave him a diary for Christmas. He'd turned them into notebooks depicting what he was going to do to his enemies. He put the diary on his bed, reaching for the one from his father. It was a biography of Salazar Slytherin. Draco looked at it with disgust. How complete was it going to be? No one knew about much of anything that the founder of Slytherin did, other that create Slytherin and cast himself away from the rest.

Tossing the book on the bed behind him, he opened Aunt Bellatrix's present with growing tension. The last time she had sent him a present, it had been a Venomous Tentacula. Draco had been in his first year. This year, though, it was something Muggles called an iPod Touch. It must have been magically modified, though, because when he tried to turn it on, it worked, and technology didn't work at Hogwarts because of the magical field around it. He went into the app called Music and proceeded to buy every Coldplay song there was. Then he listened to _Miracles_ as he unwrapped Tess's present. It was three large bars of Honeydukes' chocolate. Draco unwrapped one instantly and started eating it. If need be, these things could sustain him for a week.

When he went up to the Great Hall, it was surprisingly empty. There were only a few people at each table. There was no one at the Slytherin table. He was about to steel himself to go over to the Ravenclaw table when someone pushed on his shoulders, forcing him to sit in his seat. Then Tess sat down next to him. "Happy Christmas, Draco."

"Happy Christmas, Theresa." With a jolt, Draco realized that Tess was calling him by his first name instead of his last. Was this a good thing or bad?

She either liked or ignored his calling her Theresa, because she made no comment about it, instead standing to better reach a platter of small spheres of chocolate. She placed it in front of them, bit into one, and nodded. "I thought so. Oreo snowballs. Try one; they're really good. I've been teaching the house elves in the kitchen some dessert recipes. I think my brownies are down on the end. . . ."

Draco heaped his plate with Oreo snowballs and Tess's brownies, not even glancing at the breakfast foods. After breakfast they went out onto the Quidditch pitch and raced each other.

"I got your present," Draco shouted over the wind roaring in their ears.

"I got yours too," Tess yelled back. Draco did a sort of barrel roll under her broomstick, coming up on the other side. It was starting to snow; there was already a blanket of white on the ground below them.

"Do you like it?" Draco called.

"Haven't tried one," Tess admitted. "What else did you get?"

"An iPod touch, a book about Salazar Slytherin, and a diary!"

Tess burst out laughing, pulling up sharply. "A diary?"

Draco nodded sullenly, stopping also. "My mother sends me one every year. The past few years I've turned them into notebooks depicting what I'm going to do to my enemies."

"I see," Tess said. She was bent over her broom, she was laughing so hard. "And that doesn't count as a diary? HA! A diary . . . oh, wait until I tell the whole school . . . Draco Malfoy got a diary for Christmas. . . ."

"Please don't," Draco said. Trying to change pace, he asked, "What did you get?"

Thankfully, Tess let the subject drop. "Not much. A book from Quinn and a necklace from Raven."

_A necklace_, Draco mused.

"I thought up this really cool maneuver last night," Tess said. "Want to try it out?"

Draco nodded. Tess spun around and dove, landing on the ground lightly. Draco dropped too. He started to dismount, like Tess, but she held up a hand. "Don't get off. I want you to circle the pitch at about one hundred feet in the air. When reach the hoops behind me, start descending. By the time you get to me, you should be about a foot from the ground. Stay at the same speed, though. You got that?"

"I suppose," Draco said doubtfully. "What will you be doing?"

"You'll see. Just don't forget to hold on. Now go!"

Draco took off, rising acutely through the snow. He did as Tess had asked, flying fast and high until he got to the hoops, where he stayed at the same speed but started declining. As he shot past Tess, she jumped and swung herself on behind him, wrapping her arms around his stomach. "See?" she said in his ear. "Simple. You want to try?"

Draco looked over his shoulder. "Not really . . . I'll leave the jumping to you."

"What if something bad happens and I have to fly?" Tess challenged. Her green eyes were bright. "You have to learn to jump on."

Draco swallowed. "Okay. Just don't be surprised if I knock you off."

"I won't," Tess assured him. "You're so clumsy—"

"Oh, hush," Draco snapped good-naturedly before she could go on.

He steered the broom down to the ground and dismounted, leaving Tess on. "You just have to time it right," she said, offering a smile. Then she was off, zipping around the pitch like she had sixteen dementors on her tail.

Draco closed his eyes, sure he was going to fail. When Tess came racing towards him, he steeled himself and jumped, swinging his leg over the broom and instinctively grabbing onto something—anything.

Then Tess was whooping and taking the broom in loop-de-loops. "You did it, Draco! I'm actually very surprised."

"Don't be," Draco said, opening his eyes. He was hugging Tess so hard he figured she was having trouble breathing, his chin resting on her shoulder. Abruptly he let go, dropping onto the Firebolt, which was beneath them. He rose up until he was neck and neck with Tess. "Let's switch!" he hollered.

"You read my mind," Tess replied. Carefully Draco stood on the Firebolt. Then they both jumped, back to their own brooms. Draco nearly missed and had to grab onto his like it was a gymnastics bar, then pull himself up as best he could. Then, flying close to one another, Tess and Draco high-fived.

**A/N:** Please keep in mind that this is an alternate universe, so Draco is nicer here, in case you were freaking out like "HE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THAT!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Part Three**: Second Half of Seventh Year, and the Battle of Hogwarts

DRACO

December passed into January, and January to February. Then came the Quidditch match Draco had been dreading: Slytherin versus Ravenclaw. The morning of the match, Draco was hunched over his breakfast, watching Perch nibble at his toast. With two large thuds that bowed the bench, Crabbe and Goyle sat down on either side of him. Draco swept Perch into the pocket of his robes and kept staring at the toast.

"Cheer up, mate," Goyle said. He reached for the pancakes. Draco closed his eyes, not wanting to see the two of them eat. He stood. "I'll be in the locker rooms." He hurried out of the Great Hall.

Urquhart was already in the locker rooms, drawing up tactics on a chalkboard. "Yo," he said, saluting his Seeker. "'Sup?"

"Are you using that American speech?" Draco asked after a moment of utter mystification. "What does 'yo' even mean?"

"Yes, and hi," Urquhart answered. "Yes I'm talking like an American, _bro_, and 'yo' means 'hi'. ''Sup' means 'what's up' as in 'how are you'."

Draco nodded, acting like he understood. "Well—yo, then."

The team filed into the locker rooms, Crabbe and Goyle the last (_No_ _surprise_ _there_, Draco thought). Urquhart talked for what seemed like ages about tactics, all of which Draco pointedly ignored—he wasn't going to let this fourth year tell him what to do—and finally they walked onto the field.

Draco kicked off, looking pointedly at the black-varnished handle of his broomstick, and soared around the pitch with his other teammates in formation. As they whipped past the Ravenclaw team, who were also circling the pitch, he couldn't stop himself from glancing up. Tess was behind and to the right of Quinn, her eyes fixed on some point in the distance.

As the Captains descended to shake hands, Draco took up his position hovering above. The Quaffle was thrown up, the whistle blown.

Tess tore past him, the Quaffle tucked under her arm already. Draco actually had to duck to avoid being hit. He nearly whirled around and raced after her, but the remembered that it was not his place to do so. Forcing back an ugly curse, he rose up to survey the field. He did it with reluctance; all of a sudden he was unhappy with his position on the team.

A cheer rose from the Ravenclaw end of the pitch. Draco allowed himself a small smile. There was a tiny buzzing sound near his ear. His hand shot up of its own accord; the Snitch danced out of the way teasingly and sped away. Draco shot after it.

If he caught the Snitch, he would end the match and Slytherin would win. Ravenclaw would probably not play any more games. Tess would have no chance to win as a Chaser. On the other hand, if he caught the Snitch after Ravenclaw had scored a lot, he would end the game but Slytherin wouldn't win.

The Snitch led him up into the clouds. When he swooped out of them, unable to breathe in the dense, airless cloud, he did not have the Snitch. Not feeling defeated in the slightest, he dove down to rejoin the game.

Tess and Raven Belinski were neck and neck, passing the Quaffle back and forth so fast that the Slytherin Chasers had no chance of intercepting it.

What happened next was difficult to describe.

Tess shot around the back of the hoops, was passed the Quaffle, and kicked off her broom, doing a sort of flip. She grabbed hold of the hoop and swung herself over it, twisting midair. She tossed the Quaffle through the hoop, landed on her broom, and flew away, both hands in the air.

Draco stared after her, openmouthed. What . . . how . . . ? He was too dumbfounded to speak.

"Hey, Malfoy!" Blaise Zabini (a Chaser) flew up to him. "Close your mouth."

Draco shut it abruptly.

"Look, I'll take care of her," Zabini promised. He leaned low over his broom and darted away. It took Draco a few seconds to realize what Zabini had said. "No—WAIT!"

He lunged forwards on his broom, kick-starting it. He rushed after Zabini, but the Chaser had already summoned Urquhart, Pilbaum, Crabbe, and Goyle. They separated Tess from the other members of her team—

Draco drew his wand and pointed it at Urquhart, who was in front of Tess but facing her. "_Everte Statum_," he shouted. Thank god for wind, or everyone within five miles of the pitch would have heard him. Urquhart went tumbling backwards, having the sense to hold onto his broom but not to do much else. Tess took the opportunity to force the Quaffle from Pilbaum's hands and soar up, around, and towards the goalposts.

Draco could hear Zabini's curse from his vantage point, fifty or sixty feet above and behind him. He slipped his wand into one of his gloves, sure he would need it again soon.

"OI!"

Uh-oh, now Zabini was heading straight for him. Draco quickly moved his wand to the inside pocket of his robes and assumed a confused, half-angry look.

"What did you do?!" Zabini demanded. He looked livid. "You did something!"

"Poor Zabini," Draco said to nobody in particular. "He's going to try to take out a Chaser on the other team because she's better than him . . . if he actually came to practices instead of snogging Pansy Parkinson, he might be half as good as Wilford. . . ."

Zabini lurched forwards. Draco slipped his wand from his robes and put it in his broom hand. "_Protego Duo_."

Just after the advanced Shield Charm went up, Zabini slammed into it with surprising force, bouncing off like a rubber duck. Draco laughed, then ducked as Raven shot over his head. When he looked up, Zabini was gone.

"A score for Ravenclaw by Raven Belinski." Loony Lovegood's dreamy voice cut into Draco's worrying thoughts. "Bringing it up to one hundred ninety. Good job, Ravenclaw. Oh—and Blaise Zabini of Slytherin scores, bringing it up to ten. Slytherin really isn't doing too good this round."

_That's the truth,_ Draco thought. He saw the Ravenclaw Seeker, someone named Ivan Hartford. He was streaking along near the bottom.

_I can't suffer that amount of humiliation—_Draco thought. _Being beaten by a second year—_

And so he dove.

It was quite spectacular. He timed it perfectly. As he neared the Ravenclaw seeker, he shot to one side and dropped off his broom, stretched out in a headfirst dive. He caught the Snitch and landed rolling. At least his catch would be remembered for a long time, although it might be outshone by Tess's awe-inspiring goal.

"DECEMBER," he heard her roar. He jumped, vaulting onto her broomstick in the move she'd devised in December. They'd practiced a lot since then.

"Nice catch," Tess said over her shoulder. She steered the broom up.

Draco held the Snitch aloft, grinning. "You won the game."

"Yeah, but that catch'll go down in history," Tess pointed out. Draco stood precariously on her broom. "So? Your score was better."

He leaned sideways and fell, catching onto his broom handle with one hand and swinging himself up.

"Yeah, but no one's ever caught the Snitch in such an unorthodox way," Tess called.

"Same with your goal," Draco called back. Still smiling widely, he joined his teammates for their ride around the pitch. He noticed with some satisfaction that Zabini's eyes were crossed. He made a mental note to ask Madam Pomfrey to take a look at him.

"That," Urquhart said bluntly as they were changing out of their Quidditch robes, "was by far the _worst_ Quidditch match ever."

"It's okay, Matt," Draco said soothingly. "We'll cream Hufflepuff, and that'll put us in the lead."

"Agreed," Urquhart said slowly. He clapped his hands. "ZABINI!"

Blaise had been trying to sneak out, but at the sound of the Captain's voice he froze.

"You," Urquhart said softly, dangerously, "will come to practice even if it KILLS YOU! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?! YOU ARE THE ENTIRE REASON WE LOST! I OUGHT TO KICK YOU OFF THE TEAM, YOU'RE SO FREAKING BAD AT QUIDDITCH!"

Draco hid a smirk as he slung his broom over one shoulder. "I'll be leaving," he said.

"Go ahead," Urquhart told him sweetly. "NOT YOU, ZABINI!"

"Ouch," Draco muttered as he was passing Blaise. "That's got to hurt, doesn't it, Zabini?" he tapped the Chaser on his head, making him wince.

"Where's Blaise?"

Pansy nearly attacked him as he entered the common room. She was still wearing her scarf. "Draco! Where is Blaise?"

"Why don't you go look for him," Draco suggested. He pushed past her and her posse of girls, evoking a few squeals of anger, and dumped his things in the boys' dormitory. When he came back into the common room, Zabini was there. "_Incarcerous_!" he shouted. Draco dove out of the way, behind a couch.

"Hey," Crabbe said. He lumbered towards Zabini and was brought down by a random hex. The same thing happened to Goyle.

"Blaise, don't," Pansy begged, hanging on Zabini's arm.

"Stay out of this, Pansy," Zabini said forcefully. He wrenched her off his arm and cast a hex in Draco's direction. After it shattered a few vases on the fireplace, Draco rose. "_Petrificus Totalus!_"

Zabini knocked the spell aside. Draco ducked; coincidentally, it hit Pansy.

Draco rose again.

"_INCARCEROUS_," Zabini bellowed.

Ropes lashed around Draco, wrapping him up like a mummy. "_Diffindo_," he growled. The cords sliced open. He looked around for a means of escape. Going past Zabini was not an option.

"YOU HEXED URQUHART," Zabini yelled. "YOU MADE ME FAIL!"

"You failed of your own volition," Draco retorted, backing slowly towards one of the windows. Outside, he could see the depths of the lake. This was a definite gamble.

"YOU WANTED TO PROTECT WILFORD," Zabini roared.

"Did it ever occur to you that it was someone else?" Draco narrowly avoided tripping over a table, holding his wand out in front of him defensively. "Like, I dunno, that Jeffries guy? It's kind of obvious he likes her—"

"I HEARD YOUR VOICE, YOU SCUM," Zabini shrieked. Draco felt the window behind him. He swallowed.

"Good," Draco said, "for you. _Protego_!" He cast the Shield Charm, turned, and crashed through the window. _Ascendio!_ He surged through the lake water, hoping desperately that he had enough air to go up to the surface. As it turned out, he did. When he broke through the surface, he felt cuts on his face open up. They were from the glass of the window.

A/N: sorry, shortish chapter, will make up for it in the future :)


	12. Chapter 12

TESS

"THAT WAS AMAZING!"

Raven hugged Tess fiercely. "That one maneuver, the one where you flipped over the hoops—that was brilliant! Can you teach me how?"

"I'm not sure," Tess admitted. "It's kind of instinctive."

They reached the entry to Ravenclaw Tower. "Shall you do the honors, or I?" Raven asked. They'd spent a little more time than the others in the changing room, and even through the thick door, they could hear sounds of celebrating.

The knocker smiled down at them. "Congratulations! Go on in." Without asking a riddle, it swung open. Raven pushed Tess forward.

"Are you sure you haven't played Quidditch?" Quinn demanded, instantly at Tess's side. "Because by the way you play, it looks like you've been practicing since birth!"

"It's all in my arm," Tess told him. "I used to play American football."

Then she was swept away by the enthusiastic crowd. If they won a match and this was how they celebrated, Tess almost didn't want to know how they'd react if they won the Inter-House Quidditch Cup.

After a few hours, Tess made some excuses and slipped away from the party. It was simply too loud. She left the tower and made her way out of the castle, moving towards the lake. There was a sheltered, peaceful spot she'd discovered in her second year, and whenever she wanted to get away from a huge crowd, she'd gone there. It was a little clearing filled with lush green grass and moss, and lined with thornbushes that no one else wanted to go through. It was right on the edge of the lake. The only ways to get to it were through the thornbushes or the water. It was virtually hidden from the castle, too.

As she was walking down, she saw something black huddled on the shore near where she had found the secret entrance to the peaceful clearing. She tipped her head to one side and broke into a jog, wondering what it was. As she neared, the black lump unfolded itself. Tess screamed inwardly. It looked like a Death Eater.

She pulled out her wand, holding it steadily in front of her. She could duel okay—

Then she recognized the figure.

"Draco?" she exclaimed. She stuck the wand in her belt and rushed forward. "You're sopping wet!"

"Took a swim in the lake," Draco said. "Not entirely on purpose. D'you know a spell to make me dry off?"

"Yeah . . ." Tess gave her wand a complicated wave and pointed it at Draco. Steam rose from his suit—why was he always wearing that black suit? It was so _dark_—and he rubbed his arms. "Thanks."

"No problem." Tess beckoned. She led him to the entrance to the unknown clearing. "_Apertum Lignum_." She pointed her wand at a tree. With a creaking sound, a door carved itself into the bark and opened. Tess stepped in and found herself in the clearing. Draco appeared out of thin air beside her. "That was the weirdest thing I've ever seen."

"Eh," Tess said indifferently. She glanced up at his face and blinked with surprise. "What happened to your face?" There were countless cuts and scratches, including one on his lip. She reached up and touched one. Draco winced, his hand coming up to cover hers. "Please don't."

"Sorry." Tess drew her hand back, swallowing. She turned and looked out over the lake. "How'd you get them?"

"I jumped through a window into the lake," Draco said. "Stupidly, I forgot to cover my face."

"Do they hurt?"

He nodded.

"Would you like me to fix them?"

Another nod.

Tess tapped his face with her wand. "_Episkey_." The all the cuts vanished except the one on his lip. It faded to a sort of silverfish color. "Oooh," Tess said. "That's a scar."

"What is?" Draco felt his face.

"You had one on your lip," Tess said. "It scarred."

"Ah, well," Draco said. "The casualties of dueling."

"Indeed," Tess agreed. "Who were you fighting anyway?"

"Blaise Zabini." An ugly expression crossed Draco's face. "When Urquhart fell, I'd hexed him. Blaise accused me of doing such; like I was going to admit it. So I jumped through the window into the lake."

"How smart of you," Tess remarked. She sat in the grass and looked out at the lake. "When in doubt, jump into the lake—but go through a _window_ first. Let's all follow that code."

Draco sat next to her, shrugging. "It was that or get hexed and jinxed and cursed beyond repair. Nearly broke my wand in doing so," he added regretfully. "Man, that would have gotten me in trouble. What's your wand made of?"

"Black walnut," Tess said. She handed it to him. "Black walnut, dragon heartstring, fourteen and three-quarter inches, reasonably pliant. Got it from Ollivander's. What about you?" It had vines wrapping around it almost to the tip. The vines had flowers on it.

Draco handed her his wand. "Hawthorn, unicorn hair, ten inches. It's . . ." he glanced sideways at her. "Reasonably pliant also."

They traded wands. Tess waved hers around, causing a bouquet of flowers to pop from the end. She set them on fire and threw them in the lake. Draco whistled. "Harsh. It's just a bouquet of flowers."

"I dislike flowers." Tess laid her wand in the grass beside her. "Don't you ever get hot in that stupid suit?"

"Oh, totally," Draco said. "I just can't take my jacket off beca—" he stopped abruptly and stood. "How do I get out?"

Confused by the sudden change of tone, Tess picked up her wand, rising. "_Venia Copia_." A pathway through the thornbushes appeared. Draco rushed through them and disappeared into the forest.

"Draco," Tess called, taking a step after him.

"_Everte Statum Maxima_!" an unfamiliar voice shouted behind her. Pain lanced through her body, like someone was sticking needles into her skin. She screamed, falling to her knees. Then the pain was gone and she was trying to catch her breath.

She turned, trying to get to her feet. Blaise Zabini (she recognized him from the Quidditch match) was standing a few feet away, murder written on his face. "I will become the best Chaser Hogwarts has ever seen," he told her, seething. "Not you. _Everte Statum Maxima_!"

The pain came again, this time enough to make her black out for a few minutes. When she woke, Draco was standing in front of her, his wand still pointed at Zabini, who appeared to have the Full Body-Bind curse on him. He was also Stunned and bound by ropes. Tess must have made a noise, because Draco spun around and fell to his knees beside her, gathering her into his arms. "Are you okay?" he demanded.

Tess shook her head weakly. She had never heard the spell Zabini had been using, but it felt just like she imagined the Cruciatus Curse to be like.

Draco rose, hugging Tess closer to his chest, and took off through the path in the thorns. Tess let herself drift away, awake but not paying attention to anything. Then she heard an enraged shout. She opened her eyes. Quinn was standing very close to Draco, his eyes blazing and his fists clenched. Raven was behind him, also glaring.

"What did you do to her?" Quinn yelled.

"If you want to blame someone," Draco snapped, "blame Blaise Zabini. He's in that clearing over there." He pointed over his shoulder. "So why don't you let me get Tess to the hospital wing?"

Tess tried to see it from Quinn and Raven's point of view. They must have been looking for her, knowing that she came into the forest to escape from people. So they search the edges. The fringe of the forest. And then Draco Malfoy shows up from nowhere, carrying Tess in a pretty friendly manner, saying that he needs to get her to the hospital wing. _That's got to be suspicious,_ Tess thought.

"YOU LITTLE—" Quinn shouted, his face nearly red.

"Hush, Quinn," Raven commanded, shoving him behind her. "Malfoy, why do we have to blame Zabini?"

"He did something to her," Draco said. Now he sounded unsure. "I don't remember the incantation—it made her scream, though."

"_Everte Statum Maxima_." Tess croaked out the incantation, then instantly wished she hadn't; it sent fire whirling though her, making her try and curl up. She was hindered by the fact that she was in Draco's arms.

"What?" Quinn's face appeared behind Raven, oddly curious. "Like _Everte Statum_ but more powerful?"

"That's what _Maxima _does," Draco replied, a touch sarcastically. "Please let me past."

Tess mentally searched her insides, wondering what could cause her such pain. What she found out made her nearly scream in frustration, even though it was a minor amount and she'd be able to leave the hospital wing at least by the next day. She worked up enough steel to talk. "Internal bleeding . . ."

Raven paled; Quinn went an ugly shade of violet. Draco took this as a _go as fast as you can_ and brushed past them. He bent his head low to Tess's ear. "How do you know you have internal bleeding?"

Tess shook her head helplessly, unable to answer.

"Why do you have internal bleeding?"

"I don't know," Tess nearly shouted, causing so much pain she nearly passed out. Draco must have sensed this, for he picked up the pace but dropped the questions.

Tess must have fallen asleep or blacked out, because when she next opened her eyes, she was lying in a bed in the hospital wing. She woke up just in time to see Raven and Quinn leave, passing Draco (who was coming in).

"Were you faking sleep?" Draco asked, seeing her open her eyes.

"Naw," Tess answered blithely. "If I was I would have laughed. I suck at feigning sleep."

Draco pulled up a chair and sat, staring down at her. After a few moments he asked, "Are we friends?"

Tess blinked. Were they really? He had carried her over here, he had been nice to her, given her that neverending box of chocolate and Glaedr, but before that he'd forced her to come to Malfoy Manor, where his father had kicked her in the back and opened one of her scars—one of the scars that Draco Malfoy had given her.

It was taking her so long to answer that Draco's face was getting a hard edge. Tess closed her eyes, considering what she was going to say.

"Yes," she said slowly. "Yes, I think we are."

Draco nodded and stood. He paced to the window, putting his arms behind his back, and stared out at whatever the window faced. "And friends tell each other secrets?"

"Of course," Tess said, sitting up. A tiny, horrible part inside her was thinking, _he wouldn't know; I'm probably his first friend ever_. She squished it down.

Draco nodded again. If Tess hadn't known better, she would have thought that he was bracing himself for something. He closed his eyes. "Please . . . please don't . . . freak out."

Tess's hand groped for her wand unobtrusively. "I'll try not to, but it depends on what you tell me."

Abruptly Draco wheeled around, pulling up his left sleeve. "I don't know who else to go to," he confessed. "I don't know what to do—I wish I was never chosen!"

On the inside of his forearm was the Dark Mark.

Tess's fingers found her wand. "_PETRIFICUS TOTALUS,_" she shrieked, whipping it around to point at Draco. A jet of white light hit him right in the chest and he stiffened, then collapsed. Ignoring any/all pain, Tess scrambled out of the bed and stood staring down at him, gasping and terrified. No. No no no no no no no no no. This—this could _not _be happening.

She couldn't help it; she made a small noise of fear and shock and—anger? Why was she angry?

"I trusted you," she breathed, knowing as soon as the words left her mouth that they were true. "I trusted you so D*** MUCH! You couldn't bother to tell me you're a Death—a Death—a—"

She stopped, unable to complete what she was going to say. Finally, weakly, she muttered the countercurse for the Full Body-Bind.

Draco scrambled up from the floor, panic in his eyes. Neither said anything for a long time. At last Draco spoke. "I need someone my age to talk to."

Tess said nothing.

"I can't talk to Crabbe and Goyle, they won't understand," Draco went on. "Both of their fathers are Death Eaters too—"

"So you decided to use me," Tess spat.

Draco stared at her. "If I'd been using you, would I have left you there for Zabini to do what he wished? Would I have healed you at my house? Would I have given you those presents? _Would I have bothered to comfort you when you were crying?_" He stood there, trembling. "I don't need you to answer that. I know the answer; you know it too. You just can't face it! I am a Death Eater, Theresa! I regret making that decision, but I recognize—"

With no control whatsoever over what she was doing, Tess went to him and hugged him, cutting him off mid-sentence. She was crying. "I don't care. Oh my _GOD_ I don't care." She stepped back, looking up at him, and kissed him on the lips. Then she ran from the room.


	13. Chapter 13

DRACO

Shock echoed through Draco like some sort of repeating spell. He lifted his fingers to his lips, automatically pulling down his left sleeve. Was he dreaming?

"Yes," he decided. "I am definitely dreaming."

He let his hand fall, looking down the hallway. Frankly, he had not thought that Tess would be that bold.

Draco started walking. He left the hospital wing and let his feet take him anywhere; he went to the Owlrey. Choosing a large barn owl, he found a scrap of parchment and pencil in his pocket. Hastily, he wrote:

_Can I call you Theresa?_

_~ M_

He attached the note to the owl. "Tess Wilford," he told it. The owl hooted, ruffling its wings importantly, and soared off. Draco watched it with something inside him that felt like sorrow. He had no idea why he'd be sad, though.

Sighing heavily, he went to the Great Hall. His stomach told him it was time for dinner.

Throughout the meal, he rested his chin on his arms, only eating a few bites, and let Crabbe and Goyle talk about how Blaise Zabini had been found by two Ravenclaws in a random clearing in the forest. Draco didn't really listen; he was scanning the Ravenclaw table for Tess/Theresa. She wasn't there. Next he examined the Gryffindor table, hoping that she might be sitting with Ginny Weasley. No such luck. He saw someone who looked a lot like her, brown hair and elfin features, but she was a little taller and was wearing her robes.

In his scrutinizing of the Ravenclaw, he did not fail to notice that Raven Belinski and Quinn Jefferies were missing too.

Suddenly the three missing Ravenclaws burst into the Great Hall, Tess/Theresa in the lead. She was shouting at Raven and Quinn, so fast that probably only she knew what she was saying. They didn't try to find seats at their House's table; they dashed up in between two tables and skidded to a halt in front of the Professors' table.

"Death Eaters," Theresa gasped out. "They're attacking the school's defenses."

_You told Professor Snape that?_ As he thought this, the Dark Mark on Draco's arm burned. A hiss of pain escaped him, making Crabbe and Goyle look at him sharply. He shook his head and waited for Snape's reply.

The Headmaster rose slowly, an infuriated expression on his face. "Go sit down," he said coldly.

"Did you not hear me correctly, Professor?" Theresa demanded.

_Oh, Tess, no,_ Draco thought desperately. _Please don't mouth off—_

"Do you have a hearing problem, sir?" Theresa continued. "If so, you might want to see Madam Pomfrey about it. She can most likely fix it. I said that _Death Eaters are attacking the school_. Unless you want everyone in the school to die—I wouldn't put it past you—you might want to do something about it."

The mark on Draco's arm burned again, and he pinched himself hard to keep himself from shouting. Making a sudden decision, he stood and climbed onto the bench, using Crabbe and Goyle as support. "If you don't mind my saying so, _Headmaster_—" he put extra emphasis on "headmaster" to remind Snape of his position "—she has a fair point. Death Eaters can be dangerous."

He got several confused glances, but Theresa shot him a grateful look.

"Yes, they can, Mr. Malfoy," Snape said, his black eyes boring into Draco's. "I recognize that. Get up!" he commanded sharply to the students in the hall. "Go to your common rooms until tomorrow. No dawdling. Go!"

Draco climbed down from the bench and slipped into the shadows before Crabbe and Goyle could notice. After all the students had filed from the hall, he followed Professor Snape as he marched through the corridors.

"Draco," the headmaster drawled without looking back.

"Sir, why are they attacking?" Draco asked. "They know Harry Potter isn't here. You would have told them if he was—or me, maybe."

"Did your Mark burn?" Snape questioned.

"Twice," Draco admitted.

"That would be your Aunt Bellatrix," Snape told him. "Tell me, what did she send you for Christmas? Did she put a note in with her present?"

"She gave me an iPod Touch," Draco said. "And there was a note, but I didn't read it."

"At times like this," Snape said, finally facing his student, "you always read notes from fellow Death Eaters. Follow me."

The headmaster strode across the grounds, his wand out. When he reached the perimeter, he called: "Bellatrix!"

With a whirl of black smoke, Bellatrix Lestrange appeared on the other side of the protective enchantments surrounding the school. "Severus," she greeted. Once again Draco was reminded of her demented attitude.

"Bellatrix," Snape replied.

"What brings you here at this fine hour?" Bellatrix queried, as if they had showed up on her doorstep and not the other way around.

"I would like to ask you the same thing." Snape glowered at the Death Eater. "You know as well as I do that the Potter boy is not here."

"If he was, I would have told every Death Eater I know," Draco put in.

"Draco," Bellatrix exclaimed. "I didn't see you there with such a dark suit! Don't you look _dashing_ today!"

Draco got a strange feeling that she knew about the kiss.

"Bellatrix," Snape snapped. "Why are you here?"

"Just thought I'd pay a visit, dear Headmaster." Bellatrix smirked. "Remind all the wee children that we Death Eaters are still out here. . . ."

"Like we'd forget!"

Draco's heart sank as he heard Theresa's voice. Bellatrix shrieked with laughter. "A student, out of bed this late! Severus, you must punish her."

Draco didn't know he was moving until he stood between Snape and Theresa, his wand held out threateningly. "Don't."

Snape looked down his nose at the Slytherin, but before he could say a word, Bellatrix broke in with: "Why do you care, Draco? She's a Mudblood."

"I am not a Mudblood," Theresa shouted, shoving Draco aside and storming up to the Death Eater. "Will everyone just get that straight! My parents are—were—Henry and Kendra Wilford! YOU killed them!"

Her wand moved so fast Draco would have missed it if he'd blinked. A jet of red light passed through the barrier. Bellatrix barely managed to block it. She cackled with glee. "Ooh, a duel! Mudblood wants to duel! I remember your parents . . . and your sisters, too. They nearly escaped . . . but Dolohov finished them. Kendra begged me not to hurt them—really, it was quite touching."

"Shut up, you HAG!" Theresa sent another six spells at Bellatrix. Draco had never seen her this angry.

Snape flicked his wand. Draco sent up a Shield Charm behind Theresa just after a bolt of red light escaped the Headmaster's wand. "Let me take care of it, Professor."

He stuck his wand in his belt and moved forward. "Theresa." He put his hands on her shoulders and bent down to speak quietly in her ear. "Theresa, please don't. Just come back inside, okay? You'll have your chance to battle the Death Eaters soon enough."

Tess was trembling. "I don't want to I _need_ to kill her—"

"She's a maniac, Theresa." Draco glanced up a Bellatrix, who was watching with an interested look. "Just walk away."

Still trembling, Theresa allowed him to turn her around and walk her back to the school. Neither of them said anything about the kiss.

The months passed quickly, far more quickly than Draco would have expected. He and Theresa didn't really go near each other, sticking with their own groups of friends. Respective friends; Draco wasn't sure if he had friends in Slytherin.

It was in March that they stumbled across one another in the library and had nowhere to go (giggling Hufflepuff girls on Theresa's end of the shelf, some sort of whispered shouting match behind Draco).

Draco pretended not to notice her at first. He scanned the bookshelf in front of him, hoping to find the nonexistent book he was looking for. At random he pulled a few off the shelf, paging through each one to decide if he really needed it or not. He hadn't come to the library to get a book. He'd come to escape Blaise Zabini, who was out raging again and wanting to make Draco his target. No one would ever think to look for him here.

"So this is how it's going to be, then," Theresa said softly, not looking at him. "One kiss and we forget the other exists?"

Draco pulled another book off the shelf. "It's your call."

"My call?" Theresa demanded. She roughly shoved a paperback onto the shelf, mangling its cover and making it shriek. Draco reached over and fixed it before Madam Pince came over screeching about people never being nice to the books.

"Your call," he said, looking down at her. She was quite short, really. Only about five-two. That made Draco seven inches taller than her.

"So nice of you," Theresa scoffed. "My gosh, I don't know what to do—Draco is actually letti—"

Draco didn't hear the rest of what she had to say. He turned and walked away, shoving between the arguers with a hissed, "Cut it out". For once in his life, he would like it if people didn't make fun of his decisions, whatever they were. When Madam Pince came at him like a bat, telling him he couldn't check out the books, he shoved them into her arms and said roughly, "I don't care; I don't want them."

He found his feet took him to the Room of Requirement. As he pushed through the doors, he came into a room full of absolute junk. There were birdcages, Muggle record players, stack upon stack of dusty, falling apart books. It was an antique collector's dream room.

Draco found it perfect for taking out his anger on.

He whirled in a circle, casting the Reductor curse at every solid object he could, roaring the incantation. Eventually his voice gave and he couldn't even croak the spell. He sank to the floor, glaring at it with passion and wondering if he should blow it up too. He pulled up his left sleeve and glared at the Dark Mark instead of the floor. He wished he had never taken the initiation ceremony.

He didn't know what alerted him to another presence in the room. A soft whisper of the door, maybe, or a single footstep. He ducked behind a filthy, disgusting floral couch and wished he hadn't lost his voice.

"Draco," Theresa called. "Draco, I know you're in here. I've made my decision."

_Periculum,_ Draco thought, pointing his wand at the ceiling. Red and orange sparks shot from the tip with a whistling noise. Theresa yelped and there was a small thud. She must have dropped to the floor to avoid being hit. "Draco!"

He rose, slipping his wand up his sleeve. She was on the other side of the couch—he was surprised she hadn't seen him. He waved and moved around the couch to help her up.

"Can you talk?" Theresa asked.

_Flagrate,_ Draco thought. He wrote in the air:

NO, I LOST MY VOICE BECAUSE I WAS SHOUTING TOO MUCH.

"Well," Theresa said. "That's kind of odd, but I wouldn't put it past you. Anyway, I've decided that we are spending no time apart, if possible." She kissed him, for real this time, not the quick peck in the hospital wing, but a deep kiss.

When they parted, Draco felt a searing pain in his arm, so terrible that he lost strength in his knees and crumpled with a short cry. Theresa was kneeling next to him instantly, concern etched on her face. "What's wrong?"

Draco pulled up his sleeve. The Dark Mark was blacker than he'd ever seen it, writhing like fury. That was what hurt. Hissing, he shoved his sleeve back into place and grabbed Tess's hand, pulling her to his feet when he stood. "I need to see Snape," he told her. He dragged her from the room and up to the gargoyle that guarded the headmaster's office. Draco tried every password he knew, but he couldn't crack the code.

"Professor McGonagall," he heard Theresa exclaim.

"Miss Wilford, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall greeted somewhat warily. "Why are you trying to get into the headmaster's office?"

Draco shot Theresa a hopeless glance.

"Well, you see, Professor," Theresa lied, taking on a half excited look, "I received word from an anonymous source that one of my sisters is still alive, and I was trying to get into Professor Snape's office to ask him if I could take a few weeks to pursue it."

"And what about you?" McGonagall turned to Draco. "Why are you looking so desperate?"

Draco glanced down at his hand, which was still clasping Theresa's, and said firmly, "We're friends."

If they could have, Professor McGonagall's eyebrows would have shot to the moon. They rose unnaturally high on her forehead, but before she could say anything, Theresa begged, "You could give me permission to look into it, couldn't you, Professor?"

"No," McGonagall sighed. "I'm afraid not . . . follow me." She turned to the gargoyle. "Dark Death."

The gargoyle sprang aside.

Murmuring hatred of Snape's new passwords, McGonagall led the way onto the staircase and climbed while it rose. "I need to have a quick word with Professor Snape," she said over her shoulder. "If you could wait outside while we speak—"

She barged in the door without knocking, slamming it behind her. Draco got the feeling she was a lot angrier than she was showing. He winced again as the Dark Mark seared.

A few minutes later, the Transfiguration professor stalked out, again slamming the door behind her, and stormed down the staircase looking thoroughly miffed. Theresa knocked on the door.

"Come in," Snape called.

Draco entered, letting go of Theresa's hand, and went up to Snape's desk. "It hurts," he said shortly, pulling up his sleeve.

"Put that away!" Snape sounded panicked as he stared behind Draco at Theresa.

"I know what he is, Professor," Theresa said softly. "I am choosing to ignore that black thing on his arm; I hardly ever see it anyway."

"Then close the door," Snape commanded. "I have something to tell you. Draco, you can leave. I'll talk to you later."

Theresa coughed, shutting the door. "Excuse me? Draco's not going anywhere! What you have to say to me you can say to him too." She moved forward until she was next to Draco. He put his arm around her shoulders. They both gave Snape defiant looks.

"Fine," Snape sighed at last. "If you insist. Sit down, though." He flicked his wand and chairs crashed into the backs of their knees, making them sit. Draco slipped his arm over the armrest and found Theresa's hand. She gripped it tightly, the only thing telling him that she was nervous.

Snape stood and began pacing behind his desk. "This is going to come as a surprise for you," he said. "Whatever you do, don't cast any spells, or the castle is liable to explode. Theresa!" When he said her name he spun to face her. "Have you ever wondered why I never give you detention for mouthing off?"

"I'd been wondering that, sir," Draco volunteered, raising his hand. A withering glance from Snape made him lower it.

"Yes," Theresa said, frowning slightly.

"Would you like to know?" Snape offered.

"Yes," Tess repeated, an edge creeping into her tone.

Snape took a deep breath. "I am your father, Theresa Emily Mica Eleanor Olive Ingrid Wilford."

A/N: I like lots of middle names. Please don't judge. :)


	14. Chapter 14

TESS/THERESA

"Wow," Tess snapped before she could help herself. "Way to be totally Star Wars. How long have you been practicing that little speech?"

She stood, knocking her chair over, and ran from the room. She tore down the stairs, past a still furious McGonagall (who looked like she had been Transfiguring a torch bracket) and down the hall. How many more surprises was she going to get this year? Sure, she'd surprised herself when she kissed Draco, but that was after he'd revealed he was a Death Eater (surprise) and then Snape was suddenly her father (surprise)?

"God," she moaned. She ducked into a small alcove and sank to the floor. Draco went running past, his face contorted with anger. She hoped it wasn't directed at her.

She needed a girl friend, not a boy friend, to talk to. She needed Raven. And not Quinn. The two had become inseparable the last few weeks.

Heaving herself to her feet, Tess drew her wand—precaution—and crept from her hiding place. She headed towards the Ravenclaw Tower, hoping that she would find Raven.

She didn't notice Draco slip from the shadows and trail her like a whisper.

"Tess," Quinn exclaimed. He rose from his chair by the fire. "What's going on? Are you okay?" His brow furrowed. Tess figured she was pale. "Where's Raven?" she asked.

"She went to bed early," Quinn said. "She was talking about a headache and a cold."

"Really?" Tess found this surprising (yet another thing that was surprising this year); Raven hardly ever got sick.

"Yeah. It surprised me too." Quinn shrugged. "But seriously. Are you okay?"

"Lots of surprises this year," Tess muttered.

Quinn moved closer. "What?"

Tess looked up. "I've been having a lot of surprises this year. Like _a lot_." She found a chair, tucking her legs up, and put her wand on a table next to her, shaking her head. "God, I'm so sick of surprises."

"Life is like that," Quinn agreed. He perched on the armrest of her chair. "I've got something to tell you." His tone made Tess get an uneasy feeling in her stomach. It grew when his fingers brushed her wand, knocking it to the floor.

Quinn bent down and whispered in her ear, "I'm a Death Eater."

His hands closed around her throat.

A/N: Short chapter but LOTS of drama! Squeal! :D


	15. Chapter 15

DRACO

Draco was waiting outside the Ravenclaw common room, unable to enter (because the knocker had refused to give him a riddle), when Quinn Jefferies came out, Theresa's arm over his shoulder. He was supporting her. At first Draco thought there were bruises on her throat, but then he realized it was a trick of the light. "What's wrong with her?"

"She collapsed," Quinn explained. "A seizure, maybe. She was talking about her pet cat when she just slumped sideways, twitching. I'm taking her to the hospital wing."

Warning bells sounded in Draco's head. _She doesn't have a pet cat._ "Okay," he said. "I'll come with."

Without waiting for an affirmative, he looped Theresa's other arm around his neck. _How can I check her pulse without being too obvious? _As they moved into the torchlight he saw that what he thought were a trick of the shadows were indeed bruises on her throat. _He didn't! He's going down._

They were in the hallway leading to the hospital wing when Quinn froze, looking like a startled cat. "Hang on, I need to check something," he said. He let go of Theresa so suddenly that Draco stumbled with the added weight. As soon as the Ravenclaw Keeper had gone out of sight, Draco settled Theresa down on the ground leaning against a pillar, drew his wand, and slipped into the shadows.

Sooner or later Quinn would come back.

And Draco would be ready.

"We've got a problem," Quinn shouted, running back around the corner. "A big—Malfoy?"

Draco moved from the shadows, a death glare on his face. "Tess doesn't have a cat," he snarled, and Stunned Quinn. Then he ran to Theresa, dropping to his knees. "Theresa! Theresa, are you okay?" He felt for her pulse. It was faint, very faint. He scooped her up and ran. Once he was far enough away from Quinn, he set her on the floor and crouched nearby, his wand still out.

A groan escaped Theresa. Draco looked over to see her eyelids fluttering. "Draco . . ." Suddenly she sat up. "Draco!"

Draco shot to her, one hand on her back, holding her up. "What's wrong?"

"Quinn—he's a Death Eater!" Theresa looked terrified. "He's a Death Eater and he used Sectumsempra on Raven!"

"Can you walk," Draco demanded.

"Yes."

"Can you run?"

"I think so."

"Go save Raven," Draco commanded. "The countercurse is _Vulnera Sanentur_. You have to say it three times while drawing your wand tip over her wounds, or else it doesn't work. I'll take care of Quinn."

Theresa heaved herself to her feet, painfully using Draco as a prop to help her up. "_Vulnera Sanentur,_" she repeated. "Got it."

Then she took off, running faster than Draco would have thought. Within two seconds she was out of sight.

Draco stood, flipping his wand in his fingers, and went to find Quinn. But when he got to the place where the Death Eater had been, Quinn was not there.

_Headmaster._

Draco was running like he had fire on his heels before he knew it. The hospital wing was quite close to the headmaster's office. "Dark Death," he gasped at the gargoyle. It sprang aside and Draco took the steps four at a time, bursting into Snape's office without knocking. Quinn was standing at the desk, saying, "Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater, Professor, and he tried to strangle Tess!"

"_STUPEFY,_" Draco roared. Quinn fell over backwards at the red light. Neither Draco nor Snape moved to catch him.

"You idiot," Snape drawled, standing and leaning over the desk to look at Quinn. "I know Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater. And I know that he would never harm a hair on my daughter's body. After last term, at least." He looked up. "What is it?"

"Well, for starters," Draco gasped out, "it's Quinn who's a Death Eater, and it's Quinn who hurt Theresa, not me. You can ask her if you like." He bent over, resting his hands on his knees, to catch his breath.

"Hands on head," Snape ordered. "It's better if you put your hands on your hips or your head to catch your breath." He flicked his wand at Quinn. There was no visible change, but Draco figured that he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Snape strode out of his office. "Come with me."

Draco followed obediently. "Sir . . . is there any way to get to Ravenclaw Tower faster than walking?"

"Of course," Snape said. "If you can fly." He kept on walking.

Draco shot a glare at him. "I can on a broom. Are you in any hurry to make sure your daughter's okay, or are you going to just stroll along her like—"

"Quiet!" Snape hissed, looking around furtively. "Fine." He took off in a steady jog. Draco laughed scornfully. "Ooh, boy, you're going so fast!" He caught up in a few strides. "I'm going to run ahead."

Snape nodded.

Draco's emergency run kicked in and he sped off. His emergency running was a sort of built-in defense mechanism, where he ran faster than anyone else in the world would have thought he could run. He reached the Ravenclaw Tower common room entrance within a minute and skidded to a halt. Theresa was crouched in front of the door, stricken. Draco knelt beside her. "What's wrong?"

"I can't figure out the riddle," Theresa gasped. "Raven needs my help and I can't figure out the riddle!"

Draco looked up at the knocker. "Riddle, please?"

"_It caused the destruction of Troy; the worst of tragedies and numerous maladies; yet it is chased, desired, and fought for. What is it?_"

The knocker stared down accusingly at Draco, who thought for a moment and answered, "Love."

"That was her riddle," the knocker said. "Now for yours."

Theresa whimpered. Draco put a protective hand on her shoulder.

"_Made by God in pairs, separated at birth on Earth; found after years of search, inseparable for the rest of time._"

Draco shook his head, looking at Theresa. She rose, gripping his hand, and told the knocker, "Soul mates."

"Very good," the knocker said, and the door opened.

Theresa shot through like a rocket, dragging Draco with her, and dashed through the common room, behind a white marble statue of who must be Rowena Ravenclaw, and through another door. Draco lingered in the common room, looking around in it appreciatively. It was a wide, circular room with a midnight blue carpet, arched windows with blue and silver hangings, and a domed deep blue ceiling painted with stars. It was furnished with sofas, armchairs, tables, and many bookcases. On the wall to the right of the door was a curved stone fireplace with a blue and silver mantel, above which hung a mirror. Draco whistled softly, crossing to one of the windows. Even in the dim lighting of the evening, he could see the lake, the Quidditch pitch, the Forbidden Forest, the Herbology gardens, and the surrounding mountains. The wind whistling around the tower reminded him of the lapping waves. It was strangely soothing.

"Why are you in here?"

Draco turned to see a fourth year glaring up at him, hands on hips. She had short black hair and sharp brown eyes. "I said," she said, not giving him time to answer, "why are you in here?"

"I'm with Tess," Draco explained, using Theresa's nickname for understanding. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"Aren't you?" the girl challenged.

"No," Draco said. "I'm a seventh year. I can do what I want. Also I'm of age, which makes it legal for me to be in here." He brushed past her, heading for the door that Theresa had gone through, but before he reached it, she burst out. "I've left Raven with Jenn for now, but she's not doing well." The Ravenclaw was white-faced. "I'm going to send for Madam Pomfrey. You can come with me . . ."

"Can't you cast a Patronus?" Draco asked, catching her by the arm before she could leave the common room.

"_Expecto Patronum_," Theresa exclaimed. A snow leopard leapt from the end of her wand and passed through the door. Draco smiled despite the circumstances. "I've learned a lot since when you cast that at me last term."

"Oh, I don't know." Theresa also smiled, some color coming back to her face. "Maybe . . . you've learned not to mess with me." She noticed the fourth year by the window and said sharply, "Hey! Yvonne! Go to bed!"

Yvonne shot a nasty look at Theresa, then retreated through the door.

Draco knocked Theresa's knees out from under her, scooping her up in a bridal carry. She yelped in protest but nestled her head against his chest. "You're so—"

"Awesome?" Draco suggested. "Charming? Perfect? Smart? All of the above?"

"I was going to say cliché," Theresa said, "but what you listed would work too."

Draco planted a kiss on her head. "Cliché. Pfft." He stood there like that for a few minutes, then said, "I have two things to ask you. One: can I let you down, and two: can you teach me how to cast a Patronus?"

Theresa slipped out of his arms. "I don't know . . . no Death Eater has ever been able to cast one, except for Professor Snape . . ." She frowned. "Why in the heck would he be able to cast one . . ." With a quick glance at Draco, she went on, "I think probably I could. You seem nice enough. No offense—I mean you're not evil or anything like that Lestrange hag. First up, you need to have your wand." She saw the wand in Draco's hand and nodded. "Good. Now think of a happy memory. The happiest you've ever been. Just so you know, I will be very surprised if you can produce a Patronus on your first try. You know what the incantation is. When you think you're ready, say it. Also, it requires concentration. As long as you're concentrating, you can keep the spell up."

"So you're concentrating right now?" Draco asked.

"Yes," Theresa answered.

Draco collected his thoughts. What was his happiest memory? Happiest memory . . . Diagon Alley, for the first time? He glanced at Theresa, then realized exactly what his happiest memory was.

"_Expecto Patronum,_" he said softly, focusing on that memory and never letting it go.

A wisp of silver floated from his wand and took the shape of a lion. It bounded around the room, roaring. Theresa squealed, making Draco lose his concentration. He lowered his wand as the lion disappeared.

Theresa stared at him. Then she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. "You are amazing."

Draco kissed her again, feeling a wave of happiness rising up in him.

"Try again," Theresa encouraged.

He was just lifting his wand when the door burst open and Madam Pomfrey hurried in, followed by Professors Snape and Flitwick.

"She's in there," Theresa told Professor Flitwick and Madam Pomfrey, pointing at the dormitories. After they had passed through the door, Snape rushed to Theresa. "You aren't hurt?"

Theresa felt her throat. "It's a little bruised . . . nothing I can't handle. Did you take care of Quinn?"

"Oh, yes," Snape said, with an evil glint entering his eyes. "He's not going anywhere except to hell."

Theresa shook her head sadly, moving closer to Draco. "I thought he was so nice . . . I wish he hadn't turned out the way he did."

Draco put his arm around her shoulders. "Who's going to be your new Quidditch captain?"

"Least of my worries," Theresa told him, leaning into him. "Professor . . . Father, Dad, whatever you want me to call you . . . who was my mother?"

Snape's voice shook as he spoke. "She was beautiful . . . black hair, brown eyes . . . James Potter's sister. I hated myself for falling in love with her. We married secretly . . . ." Tears—yes, _tears_—glistened in his eyes. "Then James, _curse_ _that_ _man_, found out and forbade her to see me again. He told his father. Neither parent nor brother approved. The marriage was annulled. She was locked away in her house. I never saw Indigo again. From that moment on, I hated James. He had stolen my love—twice."

"Twice?" Draco had to ask.

"First it was Lily Evans," Snape said. "I loved her so much my Patronus matched hers. But she hated me . . . so I grew to despise her. Then it was Indigo, stolen away by her protective brother." A sneer crossed his face. "I was glad when James died. I sent an owl to find Indigo. As it turned out, she had married a Muggle." Eyes full of pain, he looked up at Theresa. "You remind me so much of her it hurts."

"Let me get this straight," Theresa said slowly. "I'm related to Harry Potter?"

Draco felt the old hatred of Potter rise up in him, but he squelched it down for Tess's sake.

Snape nodded. "You are his cousin."

"How come I . . . I . . ." Theresa seemed at a loss for words. "How did I go to live with the Wilfords?"

"I can only imagine that your mother sent you there," Snape said. "She couldn't bear to look at you, I suppose. It reminded her too much of me. She was best friends with Kendra. I suppose that's what happened: I will never know. Kendra is gone: Indigo will—"

"I'm going to find her," Theresa said suddenly. "Please can I go and find her? Draco can come with me." She looked so hopeful, it made Draco's heart feel like it was being squeezed by a Burmese python.

Snape was silent for a long time. Finally he nodded. "You may."

"We'll leave—"

"The day after tomorrow," Draco interrupted. "We leave the day after tomorrow."

"Why not tomorrow?" Theresa demanded.

"Think logically," Draco pleaded. "If we leave tomorrow, we'll both be exhausted and we won't be able to think straight. Plus we need to pack and find out where on earth she might be. And we need Muggle money and wizard money and food and portable shelter in case we can't find an inn or something. Please, Theresa."

At last, she gave a single bob of her head as consent.

"Where is the student that did this?" Madam Pomfrey's voice shouted. She came charging out of the dormitories. "DRACO MALFOY, YOU—"

"It was not Draco who did that," Snape said sharply.

Flitwick came out of the dormitories much slower, his wand in the air. He was levitating Raven. "This student needs your medical expertise, in the hospital wing," he reminded Madam Pomfrey gently. "You can do your detective work at a later time."

"There's no need for detective work," Theresa muttered bitterly, loud enough for only Draco and Snape to hear. "We already know who did it. My best friend and the Captain of the Quidditch team!"

"Shh," Draco cautioned.

After the teachers had gone, Theresa gave Draco a quick kiss and shooed him out of the common room, telling him to go downstairs and catch up on sleep. He obeyed gladly.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE LYRICS BELOW. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.

Yeah, that's a little late . . . sorry . . .

TESS/THERESA

Tess woke up so late none of her friends were in the dormitory when she stumbled from her bed. She dressed quickly, hoping she wasn't late for class, and realized that she didn't need to go to class: she needed to do research.

She went down to the Great Hall. Many people were still eating. She found Draco among the Slytherins and surprised him by kissing his hair, ignoring the odd looks from the other Slytherins at the table. "We need to talk," she told him.

"Okay," Draco replied easily. "Just give me a moment."

Tess told him to meet her at the Ravenclaw table and made her way over to said table. She sat down next to Luna. "So, Draco and I are dating," were the first words out of her mouth.

"Ginny owes me five Galleons, then," Luna said, putting down her copy of the Quibbler. "We were betting on how soon you'd be getting together. She said at the end of April: I said before the end of March. We're okay with it, you know. Malfoy's really changed since last term, and if he's changed then you go ahead and date him."

"Oh," Tess said, unsure what else to say about this. "Well . . . okay, I suppose."

Draco sat down next to her, slipping an arm around her waist. "What's up? You needed to talk . . ."

"Oh," Tess said. "Yeah, hang on a mo, I gotta tell Luna something else." She scooted away and told Luna in a whisper, "Tomorrow morning I'm going to go look for my mother with Draco. My real mother."

"Uh," Luna whispered back, "isn't she . . . dead?"

"Kendra Wilford is, but as it turns out, my mother is James Potter's sister, Indigo Potter. So therefore I am Harry's cousin. Oh, and my dad is Snape." She scooted back into Draco's arm. "Done. Now, I was thinking that one of us could do the research and the other could do the packing, what do you say? The general packing, like food and portable shelter and stuff, not clothes. I can pack my own clothes."

Draco shrugged. "Okay. Please do the research."

Tess handed him a plate, piling her own with waffles doused in whipped cream. "I was going to anyway."

Tess shoved her large stack of books into her back and closed the drawstring. It was a simple backpack, but it had an Undetectable Extension Charm on it (man, was she a fan of those). She slung it onto her bed and headed down to the library. Then she changed her mind, backtracked, and went into the Room of Requirement Number Two. As soon as she landed on the trampoline she was bounding off, calling, "I need a record of all the pureblood families that say where each family lived/lives!"

When she reached the table there was already a stack of eight books sitting on it. The top ones were always the most helpful. She flipped to the table of contents, not bothering to look at the cover, and moved her finger down the list. The only M's on the list were the Malfoys on page six hundred seventeen. The Potters were on page eight hundred nine. Tess stopped at the Malfoys first. There was a current picture of Draco on one of the pages; she ripped it out with no qualms and continued on to the Potters.

_"__James Potter, father of Harry James Potter, was killed by Voldemort_ . . . I don't want that . . . _the Potters lived in Godric's Hollow_ . . . no . . . here we are. _William Potter, father of James Potter, grandfather of Harry James Potter, is still living in the center of Ottery St. Catchpole._" Tess sat back with a satisfied sigh. "That's where we'll go first."

She closed the book, tucked it under her arm, and climbed up the ladder one-handed.

"I _told _you," Ginny said, "I don't care whether you date Malfoy or not. I do care, however, if you go to Ottery St. Catchpole and not stay at my house!"

Tess had told Ginny and Luna all about her mini quest, and where she would start. Now the three were in the Great Hall. They were supposed to be studying, but Tess figured Snape would let it go if she didn't.

"I didn't ever find out who lived in that mansion," Ginny went on, "but under no circumstances are you to give up my mother's hospitality! I already sent an owl saying to expect you; you can't refuse now."

"Yes, but how will they react to Draco?" Tess pointed out.

"I already explained that," Ginny said brightly.

"Have they agreed?" Tess asked.

There was a long, awkward silence. Then there was an enormous _THUD_. Everyone in the Great Hall looked up in surprise in time to see a gray owl slide down the outside side of the window, a letter in its beak.

"Errol," Ginny exclaimed, leaping from her seat. "Crap, crap, _crap_!" She tore from the Great Hall, Tess and Luna on her heels. They made their way outside and to the back, where Errol would be. Ginny stared at the gray lump that was the owl. The envelope of the letter was red.

"Oh, no," she whispered.

Luna tugged on Tess's arm. "Maybe we should go now . . ."

Ginny had grabbed the letter from Errol and was opening it.

Tess nodded and the two Ravenclaws slowly backed away. All of a sudden Tess heard Mrs. Weasley's voice, screaming out over the grounds. She winced. "Come on, Luna, let's run—"

"—_I WILL HAVE NO MALFOY SHELTERING MY HOUSE GINEVRA HOW DARE YOU THINK THAT HE CAN IMPOSE ON MY HOSPITALITY, I DON'T CARE IF TESS IS THERE TO KEEP HIM IN LINE I AM NOT OFFERING UP MY HOME TO A MALFOY THE LAST TIME I DID THAT IT BURNED TO THE GROUND, DON'T YOU REMEMBER THAT GINEVRA, YOU WERE EIGHT DO YOU REALLY WANT TO GO THROUGH A BURNED DOWN HOUSE FOR A THIRD TIME IN YOUR LIFE_—"

"INCENDIO," Ginny screamed. Mrs. Weasley's voice was cut off abruptly. Ginny came storming around the corner of the Great Hall, her eyes blazing. "My mum is an IDIOT," she exploded. "You're trying to find your real mother and all she can go on about is Draco Malfoy! Oh my GOD!"

"Ginny," Tess said quietly, "it's okay."

"No it's not," Ginny shouted, stamping her foot. "She's terrified and I don't blame her, but FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! You're trying to find your MOTHER!"

"Ginny," Luna said. "Calm down. Tess can find other shelter."

"She shouldn't have to, though," Ginny growled.

"Theresa, there you are. Jeez, are you trying to hide from me?"

Tess turned in time to see a flash of black; then she was being smothered in a hug. It was Draco. She recognized him because he smelled like pine trees and no one else in school smelled like pine trees.

"Hello," she said thickly.

Draco released her. "How's the packing going?" He glanced up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the sun for a split second. "It's getting close to dinnertime."

"I know," Tess answered. "Ginny was offering—"

She got a warning glare from Ginny and stopped.

"Offering . . . ?" Draco prompted.

"Never mind," Tess said. "Have you found portable shelter?"

Draco nodded. "It's pretty cool, so don't be surprised, okay?"

Tess pulled her checklist out of her back pocket and crossed off _shelter_. "Now all we have to do is . . . eat dinner, go to sleep, wake up, and leave. I found out where we're going first. You will not believe it."

"Where?" Draco asked.

"Ottery St. Catchpole," Tess told him. "Come on, if you like I could find it on a map." She started tugging him away. "Thanks for everything," she called behind her at Ginny and Luna. They smiled and nodded.

"Let's collect our things and put them under my bed," Tess suggested. "That way it'll be a lot easier to leave early in the morning. You packed food, right?"

"All non-perishables," Draco said.

They moved everything up to under Tess's bed, and then Draco ran off to get his broom. By the time he came back they had to go to dinner, so they went down together. Before they walked in, Tess balked. "Who knows that we're . . . together?"

"Well, Weasley and Lovegood," Draco said, "because you told them, but no one else. Not even Crabbe and Goyle. Why?"

"When people see us walking in holding hands . . ." Tess trailed off.

"Oh," Draco said. Then, "_OH_."

"Yeah," Tess said. "Because then we just disappear the next day . . ."

"I'll go in first," Draco offered. He straightened his tie, assumed a cold, unforgiving look, and stalked into the Great Hall. Tess pulled out her wand and pretended to shoot a spell at him. Smirking, she entered the Great Hall and found a seat next to Luna.

"Are you getting along with Draco Malfoy?" Luna asked.

"Of course," Tess said. "We just don't want rumors."

She stabbed a piece of steak with a serving fork and dropped it on her plate.

"Can I sit here?"

Tess looked up. Neville Longbottom was standing behind here, gesturing at the bench. Tess slid over instantly, grinning to herself as she made space for him between her and Luna. "How are you, Neville?"

"Good, what about you?" Neville asked. "Hi, Luna."

They had all been in Dumbledore's Army in Tess's fifth year. It had been fun while it lasted, Tess thought, as Luna replied.

Seamus Finnigan and Ginny sat down on Tess's other side. The five talked about the good days, the days when they could meet in secret in the Room of Requirement and practice defensive spells. Then, as one, they all looked down at the backs of their hands, where they could still see the scars of those stupid quills Umbridge used for punishment.

As dinner finished, Draco made his way over and whispered in Tess's ear, "I forgot to pack something."

"I'm going to bed," Tess announced, shoving him away surreptitiously. "I'm really tired." She hugged Neville, Ginny, and Seamus, then trotted out of the Hall. Draco followed. "Okay, what'd you forget?" Tess asked, only half exasperated.

"My socks," Draco said.

"For the love of God," Tess snapped, "are you like this every time you pack to come here?" She smiled, letting him know that she didn't care, and pushed him in the direction of his common room playfully. "Go get your socks."

Tess woke up before it was light out and dressed quickly, then took everything down to the exit hall. She leaned against a pillar to wait for Draco.

He came soon enough. Tess was actually considering using her Patronus to go fetch him when he appeared around the corner. "Hi."

Behind him came Flitwick, Snape, and, for some odd reason, McGonagall. Tess wondered in the back of her mind why McGonagall would come to see her off when she was head of Gryffindor house.

"Good luck," Professor Flitwick squeaked. Tess knelt to hug him. When she rose, Draco was shaking Snape's hand. McGonagall was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

Tess gave an awkward wave to the other teachers. Snape's eyes were full of an unidentifiable emotion.

"We've got to go," Draco pointed out.

"Right, right," Tess said quickly. "Well—hopefully we'll see you all again someday. Soon." She Summoned her and Draco's brooms from one of the many bags (which she had made weightless) and they mounted. Tess attached the bags to their brooms and they flew out of the castle.

By afternoon Tess's face was red from flying so fast, but they had arrived in Ottery St. Catchpole. They landed in the forest a few miles from the outskirts of town so they wouldn't be noticed by unwitting Muggles and dismounted. Tess fished a snack from the bag—cheese, really? That's not unperishable—and handed some to Draco.

Suddenly he started singing through his mouthful of food.

_"__Oh brother, I can't, I can't get through._

_I've been trying hard to reach you cause I don't know what to do._

_Oh brother I can't believe it's true._

_I'm so scared about the future and I want to talk to you_

_Oh I want to talk you . . . you."_

Tess swallowed her bite of cheese and chimed in with the next verse. They traded lyrics for a while.

Tess wasn't sure what alerted her to the fact that they were being followed, but she didn't tell Draco for a while. She heard a twig crack under someone's foot and whispered to Draco as he was singing, "Get out your wand carefully and don't stop singing."

Draco did as she asked.

When they were surrounded by people dressed in forest colors, all holding wands, Tess did not hesitate to Stun one and knock another back with the Knockback Jinx. Draco used more conventional methods, such as the Disarming Charm and Everte Statum.

So that took down four Snatchers (for that was who the people were) but there were still eight left. Draco and Tess had made a gap, though, and Tess dragged him through it, casting a Shield Charm behind them to buy them some time. They crashed through the trees and brush, branches whipping their faces. Once Tess tripped, but Draco had her back up on her feet nearly before she knew she'd fallen.

"_Diffindo,_" she called over her shoulder at a tree. It toppled over but hit another tree and caught like a sort of arch. She used the Reductor Curse to blast it to little tiny bits of wooden shrapnel. They kept running.

"We're not going to make it," Draco gasped out. The Snatchers were indeed gaining on them. Tess reached up with her wand and tapped his head, casting the Disillusionment Charm. He didn't notice because it was wordless. Tess hoped he'd forgive her. She pushed him in one direction. "Split up!"

He veered away (how could she still see him?!) while she continued on in a straight line, really hoping now that he would forgive her. If they survived.

A flash of green light shot past her ear and she thanked the heavens that Snatchers were untrained in dueling. She cast her Patronus and made it go at them, hoping it would have the same effect on them as it had on Draco last semester. She heard a few screams and grinned. She only had a few seconds. Maybe a minute if she was lucky. As she ran away she scanned the trees for a climbable one. At last she saw one and darted up the branches. As the Snatchers ran by she Stunned them and made them fly into the underbrush. When they were all gone she dropped from the tree.

A hand clamped down on her shoulder, making her scream. The largest of the Snatchers was glowering down at her. "Do y'really thin' I'm tha' stupid?"

There was a knife in the hand that wasn't holding Tess in place.

There was a flash of light and the man was knocked back. Draco burst out from behind a tree, his face contorted with rage. _WHY COULD TESS STILL SEE HIM?!_

The Snatcher blasted Tess with the Full Body-Bind and she fell over. Sadly, she had a perfect view of what happened next. It was almost as if time was slowed down a little. Draco lunged for the Snatcher, looking as though he intended to throttle him with his bare hands, and received a sharp kick in the chest. Tess heard a crack. Draco gasped, stumbling backwards and his hands flying to his chest. Then he Stunned the Snatcher three times for anger and released the curse on Tess. She ran to his side and propped him up. The crack must have been either his collarbone or a few of his ribs.

"I don't feel so good," Draco moaned, leaning entirely on Tess. Jeez Louise, he was heavy. She propped him up, slinging one of his arms over her shoulders (which made him gasp, whoops, broken ribs).

She didn't remember much of the trek through the forest, only showing up at the door of the Burrow as the sun was setting with Draco nearly unconscious. Molly Weasley opened the door, her wand out, and relaxed a little when she saw Tess. Then she saw Draco and tensed up again. "Don't think—"

"Mrs. Weasley, please," Tess begged. "I think his ribs are broken."

"Let them in, dear," Mr. Weasley called from somewhere in the Burrow.

Fred and George popped up behind their mother, one head on either side of hers. They saw Draco and both got disgusted looks on their faces. "What in the—what's he doing here?"

Mrs. Weasley shoved them away from the door, stepping aside herself to let Tess in. With a grateful glance Tess entered, pretty much dragging Draco. She felt exhausted.

Seeing this, Mrs. Weasley instructed the twins to bring him to Ron's bedroom—CAREFULLY—and led Tess to the sitting room, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders and forcing a mug of hot chocolate into her hands.

"Tess," Mr. Weasley greeted jovially. He was sitting in a large purple armchair. "Nice to see you again. How's Ginny?"

"She's okay," Tess said, choosing her words carefully. "A little upset, but Luna's keeping her company."

There was a loud crash from upstairs, sending everyone to their feet. They all waited in tense silence until Fred's voice echoed down the stairwell: "It's okay, George knocked over the birdcage in Ron's room!"

Tess sighed, sinking back into the folds of the blanket.

"What brings you here to Ottery St. Catchpole?" Mrs. Weasley asked, sitting next to Tess and fondly pulling the blanket tighter around the Ravenclaw.

"Ginny didn't tell you?" Tess was surprised. "I'm looking for my mother."

Mrs. Weasley got a pitying expression on her face. "Tess, dear—"

"Not Kendra Wilford," Tess went on quickly, before anyone could tell her yet again that her adoptive family was dead. "Indigo Potter." Thus she explained about everything. When she finished there was another tense silence.

"Good God, mate," Fred exclaimed, scaring Tess out of her skin because he was so close to her ear. "That's terrible, having Snape as a father."

"George," Mrs. Weasley snapped.

"I'm Fred," Fred told her.

"Whichever you are, I don't care," Mrs. Weasley reprimanded. "That was an awful thing to say."

"How long've you known?" This time it actually was George.

Tess calculated. "Oh . . ." And so she told the entire story of how she found out and the events afterwards.

"Ginny hasn't told any of this to us," Mr. Weasley said.

Tess shrugged. "Maybe she didn't think it was her place to tell you."

"So let me get this straight," Fred said slowly. "Your cousin is Harry Potter, your father is Severus Snape, and your boyfriend is Draco Malfoy?"

"Fred," Mrs. Weasley warned.

"You've got it all right," Tess said. "Aces."

"How could you be dating Draco Malfoy?" George demanded, ignoring Mrs. Weasley's growl. "That is completely insane. Like,_ insane_ insane, not just semi-insane."

"He's not that bad," Tess defended. "Once you get to know him, past his kinda thorny exterior, he's kinda mushy inside. And cliché. Definitely cliché."

Mrs. Weasley rose from the couch. "I'll be seeing to him. Tess, why don't you get some dinner?"

She headed up the stairs. Tess finished off her hot chocolate and set it on the table. "How am I supposed to . . ."

"Get food?" Fred finished. "Why, you go out, butcher a pig, get all the right meat, cook it, slice it, and eat it. Voila, food!"

"It doesn't have to be a pig, though," George added helpfully. "It can be a cow or a chicken if you like. Lamb if you're high-class."

"Boys," Mr. Weasley said, "get Tess some dinner."

"Yes, O Great and Terrible Father," Fred said, bowing low. "What else would his majesty like?"

"A good spanking?" George added on. Tess barely suppressed a grin.

"Just do it," Mr. Weasley snapped, ignoring their jibes. Sighing in defeat, the twins moved off to the kitchen.

They returned with a thick slice of heavy bread and a bowl of stew, along with a tall glass of water. Tess ripped the bread into small pieces and dropped them in the stew, feeling self-conscious.

"Say," she said through a mouthful of stew, "do you have ingredients for brownies?"

"Depends," Fred said slyly. "Do you want brownies or exploding brownies?"

"Normal Muggle brownies," Tess asserted quickly.

"Almost, bro," George said encouragingly in an undertone to Fred. "We'll get her next time, yessir!"

Tess scoffed and shoveled another bite of stew into her mouth.

"Brownies are up!"

Tess jerked awake from her near-stupor at the sound of Fred's voice. She bolted up and rushed to the kitchen before the twins could shove any explosives in her precious brownies. Just to be sure, she whispered the Finite Incantatem Charm with her wand pointed at the pan.

"You don't trust us?" Fred asked, sounding insulted.

"Can't imagine why," George agreed.

Tess found a knife and waved it faux-threateningly at them. "Shoo, go sit down. You've been waiting on me the entire night; its your turn to be waited upon."

"If you insist," they said together, grinning.

When they had gone Tess scrounged around for plates. She found a stack of clean plates near the sink and piled two brownies on each. Then she Levitated them out into the sitting room. Mr. Weasley was snoring quietly. Mrs. Weasley was knitting something rather unrecognizable. George was sitting on top of Fred, who was lying face down on the couch and trying to get his twin off him.

"Nineteen years old," Tess mock scolded, "and you still roughhouse like you're eleven."

"When we got our Hogwarts acceptance letters," George said nostalgically, "we hid them for four weeks."

"When Mum found out, though," Fred grunted from beneath George, "we had no dessert for a month. That was harsh."

Mrs. Weasley made a sound of protest.

George spotted the stacks of brownies and jumped up to get a plate. Just as he was sitting down, Fred Apparated away—with the couch. George, expecting the couch to be behind him, sat down and kept falling. Mrs. Weasley leapt up with a roar of frustration, and there was a loud thud and an explosion from upstairs. Mr. Weasley jerked awake with a snort. Tess burst out laughing, set the brownies on the coffee table, and helped George to his feet. A second later, Fred appeared with the couch in front of him. His sweater was missing a sleeve, and the shoulder was charred. "There went the Exploding Quills . . . and the Inkless Pens . . . and the Freezing Wizard Chess Sets . . ."

"Nice going," George said sarcastically, reaching over the back of the couch to ruffle his twin's hair.

"Well, the Inkless Pens were stupid anyway," Fred admitted.

"Those were my idea!" George protested.

"Precisely," Fred said, and Apparated away. With a loud crack, George Apparated also.

"I don't know how you raised them and survived," Mr. Weasley commented to his wife. She shook her head. "I don't know either."

Tess grabbed a plate off the table and started up the long staircase to Ron's bedroom, where Draco was sitting up on the bed and looking around with confusion and a hint of disgust. "Where am I?" he asked when Tess entered. "And are those your famous brownies?"

"The Burrow," Tess informed him, "and yes. You can have some. I should have brought some milk or something—"

"No you shouldn't have," Draco contradicted. "I hate milk straight up, and I already have water." Stiffly he gestured to the bedside table, where there was a pitcher of water and a half-full glass.

Tess tossed him a brownie and pulled up a chair. "What do you remember?"

Draco took a large chunk of brownie and popped it in his mouth. "Let's see . . . we were running and you tapped my head with your wand, making me feel like someone poured ice down my spine . . . we split up, and all the Snatchers followed you for some odd reason. I picked a few off from the brush, then followed and hid a few trees away from your tree. I would have warned you, but that would have given me away. When he grabbed you I shouted the first spell I could think of, which happened to be that one Zabini used on you, Everte Statum Maxima. And I think you know what happened from then on, don't you?" He glared accusingly at her. "Did you really have to put a Disillusionment Charm on me?"

"I thought it hadn't worked," Tess confessed. "Because I could still see you."

"Didn't you read _A Standard Book of Spells, Grade Seven_?" Draco demanded. "The caster of the Charm can always see the recipient of the Charm; if they can't, they either Vanished them or the spell didn't work."

"Wow," Fred and George said together. "You can cast a Disillusionment Charm? That's advanced work."

Tess leapt from her chair, shrieking in surprise. "You _have _to stop sneaking up on me! And yes, I can cast a Disillusionment Charm."

"Could you help us with the Vanishing Cauldrons, then?" George asked, his face lighting up like a toddler's.

"Sorry," Tess said. "This visit is strictly family business."

"Then why's he here?" Fred said, pointing to Draco.

"Didn't you get the memo?" Tess said. "Boyfriend and all that."

"I'd blocked it from my memory," Fred told her. "It's too shaming to think about."

"Oh, shut up," Tess snapped good-naturedly.

Draco raised his hand with difficulty. "I resent that."

"Who in the—" Fred started. Tess glanced at George, who dug an elbow into his twin's ribs warningly. Fred shut his mouth quickly. There was an awkward silence, broken only by a slight tapping sound. George's foot was bouncing.

"Who here likes Coldplay?" Tess asked suddenly, cheerfully. Draco's hand was still up, but he lifted it a few inches. Fred and George exchanged confused looks. "Dunno."

"Hang on a mo," Tess said, pursing her lips. She leaned out the window and Summoned her and Draco's stuff. "Might take a few minutes."

"What is Cold Play?" George asked.

"Coldplay, all one word," Draco supplied. "It's a Muggle music band, but it's really good. I've got all their songs on my iPod."

"Eye Pod?" Fred said incredulously. "You can put your eyes in a pod?" He looked like he had newfound respect for Draco.

"No, iPod," Draco explained. "It's a Muggle device that plays music. It's about yay high"—he showed them with his hands—"and yay tall. One of my cousins or something gave it to me for Christmas, but magically modified so that I can listen to it at Hogwarts. Muggle technology doesn't work there because of the magical energy field."

"We know that," George said. "We tried to bring a timed bomb in to blow up the dungeons, but it wouldn't start."

"Where would you get a timed bomb?" Tess interrogated, somewhat alarmed.

"What is a timed bomb?" Draco demanded.

"Ah, my young Padawan," Fred declared, assuming a knowing attitude, "A timed bomb is something that explodes after a designated amount of time. It decimates everything in the immediate area, and the larger the bomb, the larger the explosion!"

"We got it from our cousin," George told Tess. "He got it off a black market dealer and thought it would be great to help us with our pranks. It would have too," he added wistfully, "but of course it didn't work . . ."

"Thank God it didn't," Tess muttered.

Their bags arrived and Tess fished Draco's iPod and the matching speaker out. "Which song is their best?"

"_The Scientist_," Draco answered immediately. "Either that or _Miracles_. Maybe _Talk_."

"They've got a song called _Magic_," Tess said, giggling. "If only they knew."


	17. Chapter 17

DRACO

"Rise and shine!"

Draco yawned, opening his eyes just in time to see Theresa throw the curtains for the window wide open. She was wearing a longsleeved blue dress with a twirly skirt that went down to just below her knees, leggings, and flats. Her hair was twisted up on her head and pinned in place by a fancy beaded flower. She was even wearing mascara.

"You look great," he slurred, blinking sleep from his eyes.

"Thanks," she said. "We're meeting my grandfather in half an hour. You need to look your best or not come." She turned and smiled at him. "I can't wait!"

Draco shooed her out of the room, dressed in one of his many black suits (but with a blue tie to match Theresa's dress), and went downstairs, where he ate a hurried breakfast of waffles and coffee. The Weasleys didn't exactly live in style, but they certainly knew how to cook. Then he joined Theresa outside. "How long do we have to get to the mansion?"

"Fifteen minutes approximately," she estimated. "Do you know how to drive a car?"

"Nope," Draco said.

"Alas," Theresa said. "It's chivalrous for the man to drive the girl . . . but I guess I'll have to drive."

"You can drive?" Sometimes Draco thought that this girl would never cease to amaze him. Shaking his head, he followed her around to the Weasley's old, rusted car. She was swinging the keys for it on her finger. Draco went around to the passenger seat and climbed in. Theresa got in and started the car, turning halfway to drive backwards down the driveway. "Not the best at this," she murmured, "but I think I can do it . . ."

"You inspire confidence," Draco told her, his fingers slowly closing around the edges of the seat. "I forgot how much I hate cars."

Theresa stayed silent, concentrating on not driving into the Weasleys' hedges. When they backed onto the road, she gunned the engine and they shot down the road. Draco tried not to scream. "Lead foot," he gasped out.

Theresa slowed the car a little, but she looked like she wanted to break the speed limit five times over again.

When they neared down, though, she had to go the speed limit. They made their way through the streets until they reached the mansion, where they parked on the side of the road. Draco shot out of the car with a small gasp. Theresa balked, staring up at the terrifying thing with something like fear in her eyes.

Draco took her arm and gently led her up the steps. "Shall I knock, my lady, or shall you?"

"Cut the crap, Draco," Theresa snapped, although she did look a little less nervous. Draco shrugged and banged the knocker several times, noticing idly that it was a lion's head.

A butler opened the door with a snooty expression that only grew when he saw the two teens. "Mr. Potter is not accepting visitors at this time."

"It's important," Theresa said. "Family business."

"Mr. Potter is not accepting visitors at this time," the butler repeated.

Draco felt a spark of anger flaring inside him and he barely resisted punching the living crap out of the butler.

"Tell him his granddaughter is here," Theresa suggested, lifting an eyebrow. "That might liven him up a bit."

"Mr. Potter has no grandchildren," the butler said uncertainly.

"Scratch that," Theresa said. "Ever heard of Harry Potter? Ever heard of Indigo Potter? She married a Muggle, didn't she? She had children, yes? _Let me in_." She said these last three words with astounding force.

"What house was Indigo Potter in?" the butler demanded.

Draco winced inwardly. Theresa had never been told the answer to this question. Oh, _man_, she was going—

"Ravenclaw," Theresa answered confidently.

The butler slowly stood to the side, allowing them to enter. "The foyer is on your left, please take a seat while I fetch Mr. Potter."

They entered into a long hallway, the end of which had a large door. The mansion had golden-colored walls and reddish brown hardwood, inspiring a Gryffindor theme. The walls had lion's head lamp brackets. Draco found the foyer (also Gryffindor themed) and sank into a large armchair. Theresa perched on the edge of the couch, looking nervous but trying to hide it.

"How did you know?" Draco asked. "About being in Ravenclaw?"

"Well, logic," Theresa said. "No one in Gryffindor had ever heard of an Indigo Potter, and I know she wouldn't have been in Hufflepuff or Slytherin, and Ravenclaws have tendencies to fall for Slytherins, as evidenced by both my mother and me. Logic."

"Wow," Draco said.

"I'm kidding," Theresa said bluntly. "I figured that we'd need the answer to that so I looked up the entire Potter family tree and what house they were in."

"You are a very believable liar," Draco informed her.

Theresa shrugged and lapsed into silence, staring at her hands.

The door opened and the butler admitted a tall man with black hair, rectangular glasses, and brown eyes. He was wearing a gray suit with a gold and red tie, and his breast pocket had the Gryffindor emblem on it. Theresa rose, and Draco followed suit.

"Sit down, sit down," the man said, waving his hand and doing as he had instructed. "You claim to be my granddaughter?" He asked Theresa.

She swallowed as she slowly sank down onto the couch. "Yes."

"I have no granddaughters," Mr. Potter roared, jackknifing to his feet. "Get the h—"

"My mother is Indigo Potter and my father is Severus Snape," Theresa shouted, also flying to her feet. "If that doesn't make me your granddaughter then the world is absolutely crazy!"

Mr. Potter froze.

"The only reason I came to your house," Theresa snarled, still not quite calm, "was to find where my mother is. If you can't help me that's fine!" She grabbed Draco's arm and started dragging him from the room. He wrenched his arm free. "You go on ahead, okay?"

Theresa stormed out.

Draco turned to Mr. Potter. "Please, sir . . . I know you probably don't think very much of her, but she's been through a lot in her life, particularly in the last year, and you were the only lead she had. She's going to go back to Hogwarts with only disappointment to bring to Professor Snape and consider herself motherless for the rest of her life . . . if you could give me her mother's address I would be eternally grateful."

"What has she been through," Mr. Potter said, "That would make her so desperate to see her mother again?"

Draco let loose the flood of events that had happened in the past year. By the time he was finished, Mr. Potter was wearing an expression of shock. "I can give you Indigo's address if you answer one question."

"Okay . . ." Draco said slowly, already having an idea of what the question was.

"You nearly killed her," Mr. Potter said, "and she became your girlfriend?"

"That's not the point," Draco said quickly. "And it was her decision."

Mr. Potter wrote down the address and handed it to Draco. "When you have a spare night, do come over for dinner . . . it's been quite lonely since my wife passed away."

"Sure thing," Draco confirmed. "Just give your butler some lessons in manners and you'll be all set!"

With that, he strolled from the room, pocketing the address.

"How'd it go?"

Draco glanced at Theresa, waiting for her to answer Fred's question. The twins saw her disgusted and furious expression and parted so she could get past them. With an apologetic shrug, Draco followed her up to Ginny's room, where she started pulling pins from her hair and throwing them around. "I can't believe him!" she burst out, tearing the flower from her hair and chucking it onto the bed. "And I thought Gryffindors were the nice ones!" She sat down on the bed to rip her shoes off, then continued her stalking and pin-pulling.

Draco didn't know what to say to this, so he went over and picked the flower up from the floor, straightening the cloth petals.

Suddenly Theresa burst into tears. "I was so hopeful, and what does he say? He doesn't have any granddaughters?! Do I exist or not?"

Draco was alarmed. Dropping the flower, he went over and hugged her, murmuring "Shh, it's okay . . ."

He guided her over to the bed and sat. She wrapped her arms around his middle gently, even though it had been a week since he'd started healing. They sat like that for a long time, Draco stroking her hair comfortingly, Theresa crying into his chest. Eventually they had to go down to lunch. Theresa pulled her hair into a ponytail, wiping the tears off her face, and smiled bravely at him. "Why don't you go get dressed in something normal and I'll meet you downstairs?"

"Normal is this," Draco said, gesturing at his suit, "besides the blue tie."

"Well, luckily for you, I bought you some normal Muggle clothes today," Theresa said. "You're all set."

"How on earth did you have all that time?" He got up from the bed anyway and went up to Ron's room, where there was a pair of jeans, a black hoodie, and a T-shirt that said, _Sarcasm is the body's natural defense against stupid_. Draco pulled the clothes on and went downstairs. The hoodie felt weird, and so did walking around in socks instead of dress shoes. Theresa wasn't downstairs yet, but the twins were.

"Hey," they said together, each putting an arm around Draco's shoulder. "You've got a plan up your sleeve, don'tcha? We both know you have the address she's looking for. When are you leaving to take her there?"

"I was thinking today," Draco admitted. "Is this close?" He showed them the address.

"A few miles that way," Fred said, pointing south. "You can make it a lunch outing if you hurry."

"Thanks, you guys," Draco said. He wrestled himself from under the twins' arms and went over to the stairwell. "Hey, Theresa! Get semi-presentable! I've got lunch plans!"

Then it occurred to him that he couldn't drive. He told Fred and George this and they smiled. "We can drive, mate. We've got business down there anyhoo."

Theresa came down the stairs a few minutes later, looking entirely refreshed in black jeans, a black T-shirt, a white jean jacket, and white combat boots. Her hair was in its typical over the shoulder braid. "Where are we going?"

"A restaurant in the next town over," Draco said. "Fred and George are coming too, because they've got stuff to do there."

"Oh, good," Theresa said. "They can drive. I am not anxious to drive again."

Fred pulled them up to the curb of a large tudor-style home and went to press a button on the dashboard. George stopped him with a glare. "You can't use the ejector seat, Fred, are you crazy? That's only for people we _don't like_. And we _like_ Tess and Draco."

"If you insist," Fred muttered. "Well—out you go, lovebirds! Have a nice lunch!"

Theresa was eyeing the house with a suspicious look. "This doesn't look like a restaurant."

"It's not," Draco said. "Get out of the car."

Theresa slowly slid out of the car, and as soon as she was a foot away, the Weasleys slammed the car doors and sped away, leaving the two "lovebirds" on the curb looking up at the house. Draco glanced down at the address in his hand, then up at the address on the mailbox. They matched.

"We're here," he announced.

"What is here?" Theresa asked.

"Let's go," Draco urged.

"Draco, _what is this place_?" Theresa whirled from looking at the house so she could glower at him. "This is not a restaurant!"

"You're right," Draco said. "Do you trust me?"

"Not in the slightest," Theresa notified.

"Good. Let's go!" He walked up the path and knocked on the front door. "Come on, Theresa, you'll be fine."

He waited, and Theresa joined him just as the door opened. It revealed a woman of about average height with brown eyes, bobbed black hair, and glasses. She was holding a spoon with evidence of mac and cheese on it and looked kind of frazzled. She perfectly matched the description Snape had given them.

She stared at them for an awkward amount of time. "Um . . . do I know you?"

"Indigo?" Draco said. There was a sharp intake of breath from Theresa as the woman nodded, but he ignored her and went on, "Yes, you do know us—at least her." He nodded at Theresa. "This is Theresa Emily Mica Eleanor Olive Ingrid Wilford-Snape-Potter." _That's a mouthful,_ he thought. "You sent her to live with Henry and Kendra Wilford when she was young, but since her entire family is dead, she came looking for you."

The woman paled. "T . . . that can't be!"

"Why?" Draco asked, with a sideways glance at Theresa. She was staring openmouthed at him.

"Her entire family's not dead," Indigo said. "Sadie and Alexa are here."

Theresa's voice squeaked as she exclaimed, "They are?!"

"I'll call them if you wish," Indigo offered, unable to take her eyes off her daughter. Draco felt as though this reunion was private, but he couldn't back off now.

"May I?" Theresa's eyes were sparkling, but they had an undertone of cunning. "Is there a good place to hide and scare them too?"

"Of course," Indigo said, smiling at last. "There's under the stairs . . ." She led her daughter into the house. Draco followed awkwardly, closing the door behind him. Theresa hid behind a large armoire-like piece of furniture, grinning evilly.

"SADIE! ALEXA! COME DOWN HERE PLEASE!" Indigo bellowed.

There was a thudding noise, as though there was a herd of elephants in the house, and two slim girls who had to be twins came rushing down the stairs. They had curly brown hair and green eyes and wore mischievous expressions. _They'd get along with Fred and George,_ Draco thought. _Probably._

"What's up, Aunt Indigo?" one of them asked.

"BWAH!" Theresa screamed, jumping from her hiding place and throwing herself at her sisters, who jumped three feet in the air, screeching like wet cats. "Tess!" one of them cried.

There was a lot of hugging and exclaiming and tearfulness that Draco felt he did not need to be there for, and at last the three sisters turned to Draco. The twins started circling him, rubbing their chins thoughtfully. When they got back to Theresa, one of them—Sadie?—said, "He's hot, I'll give you that."

Draco wanted to die on the spot.

"Is he smart?" the other twin demanded.

"Which House is he in?" the other other twin interrogated.

"Of course he's smart," Theresa said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "But he is in Slytherin."

"Ohh," one of them said. "That's bad."

"Hang on," Theresa said, as Draco felt slightly insulted, "how on earth do you know about the Houses and which one is good and which one is bad? I never told you!"

The twins exchanged glances and pulled think sticks of wood from their pockets. They turned to the stairs and said in unison: "_Glissseo!_"

The stairs turned into a slide. Theresa gaped. "How do you know that?"

"Remember Fleur Delacour?" one of them—Draco decided it was Alexa—said. "From the Triwizard Tournament during your fourth year?"

"What the—I never told you about that," Theresa exclaimed.

"Do you, though?" Sadie persisted.

"Yeah," Theresa said slowly. "She went to Beaxbatons."

The twins grinned.

"No," Theresa gasped. "No way! How come I never knew?"

"Our term started after yours and finished before yours," Alexa explained. "I can't believe we fooled her all those years!" She high-fived her twin.

They stayed at Indigo's house until the father (who turned out to be Kendra Wilford's brother) came home and wondered who all the extra people in the house were. Draco and Theresa went up to the bedroom the twins shared and Apparated to the Weasley's house. They spent the night trying to figure out who the heck was related to Theresa. As they already knew, Harry Potter was her cousin, making Lily and James Potter her aunt and uncle. Indigo Potter's children, Mellie, Arnold, and James, were Theresa's stepsiblings. Kendra and Henry Wilford were her aunt and uncle. Sadie and Alexa were her cousins. And the rest was obvious.

Theresa sat back, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Fred handed her a plate of salad and chicken, while George gave one to Draco. They both accepted them wearily and ate.

When they had finished eating, they each went upstairs. Theresa followed Draco into his bedroom. "Thanks."

Draco shrugged. "No problem."

"I take it you forgive me for what happened out in the forest?" Theresa asked.

He shrugged again. "Sure."

She shook her head with something like amazement in her eyes. "You know, I will never understand you. I will never understand how on earth you managed to switch from being a complete utter jerk last term to being this nice."

"Well . . ." Draco didn't know what to say to this. He made some sort of _I dunno_ gesture with his hands.

Theresa laughed and kissed him. "You can be so funny sometimes."

"Really?" Draco said, gazing into her green eyes. "I thought that was Fred and George's job."

"They're funny," Theresa admitted, "but you're a different kind of funny. Adorable funny." She grinned.

"Adorable," Draco muttered. "My God, if you called me adorable in any year before fifth I would have killed you on the spot."

She looked confused. "Why not before this year?"

"Because it was in my fifth year that I got a crush on you," Draco confessed. "I just didn't realize it until—"

"Sixth year after you pulled Sectumsempra on me," Theresa finished, understanding dawning in her eyes. "That was why you looked like an Inferi when you wanted to apologize to me."

"Hit the nail on the head," he confirmed. He dropped his head for another kiss.

"Truthfully," Theresa said, avoiding the kiss, "I've had a crush on you since third year."

Draco laughed. "How ironic. Why?"

"Why?" Theresa stared at him, incredulous. "Because that was the year you got _hot_, idiot!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "My God, you can be so _slow_ sometimes."

Draco mounted his broom, giving the Weasley twins an uncertain glance. "You will make sure she gets home safely?"

Fred grinned. "Wouldn't dream of anything else, young Sir."

"Don't call me sir," Draco said, at the same time George said, "Don't call him sir, Fred."

Theresa pushed the twins aside. "Be careful," she pleaded.

"Same goes to you." All of a sudden Draco wasn't so sure why he was doing this. He kissed the top of her head. "See you in a week."

He kicked off before he could think of doing anything else and soared away over Ottery St. Catchpole.

He didn't realize he was flying fast until he arrived above the outskirts of Hogsmeade and it wasn't even one o'clock. He touched down in the forest, slung his broom over his shoulder, and started the hike back up to school. It had snowed since he'd left, and it was oddly chilly. As he entered Hogsmeade, he got strange looks and with a jolt he remembered that he was still wearing the "normal" (a.k.a. Muggle) clothes Theresa had gotten him. He sighed. Of course he had to be wearing the shirt with the cat on it. It was a gray cat with several ear piercings, a snarl, and a lightning bolt streaking across its face. He Summoned his coat from his bags and pulled it on.

There was a squeak from nearly under his feet. He looked down. A sodden gray tabby kitten was sitting in the road, looking up at him with large blue eyes. He had nearly stepped on it.

He stooped and picked it up, cradling the wet mess against his chest. "Hey there." The cat started purring.

"Draco!"

Someone rushed at him. He realized a split second before she hugged him that it was Pansy Parkinson and he managed to step aside, leaving her to barrel past him. "Hello, Pansy," he said coolly.

"Draco, Blaise broke up with me," Pansy whimpered. She latched onto his arm, nearly dragging him down with her weight. "I need you!"

"I don't need you," Draco snapped. "Go away." He shrugged her off and started rubbing the lost kitten's fur backwards so it dried faster.

"Miss Parkinson," a voice thundered. "Step away from Draco."

Draco looked up fast. Snape was striding towards them across the snow, pushing through the crowd of students that had started to gather and watch the unfolding scene.

Pansy reluctantly obeyed. Snape took Draco by the arm and steered him up to the castle. "What is that?"

Draco realized his Head of House was talking about the kitten. "It's a kitten, sir."

Snape locked eyes with him. "You rescued a kitten?"

Draco continued rubbing its fur backwards, although he was hindered by Snape's tight grip on his arm. "Of course, sir."

"Is Tess already in the castle?"

"No, sir."

Snape swung around, alarmed. "Why not?" he said in a dangerous tone. Draco gulped. "She wanted to stay in Ottery St. Catchpole so she could be closer to Indigo, sir. We found her, you know. She's married to Kendra Wilford's Muggle brother, so Theresa stayed behind for an extra week to hang out with her cousins—Kendra Wilford's daughters, they're not actually dead _and _they're witches—and her mother, to get to know them. It kind of felt awkward for me, so I left."

Snape sighed. "I would have preferred that you stayed with her, but I suppose if it was awkward then you can stay here. You begin classes next week." He shot his student a sharp look. "Pansy was doing your homework until a certain Miss Lovegood stole it from under her nose and said that it was her responsibility. Do you know why?"

"Lovegood," Draco mused. "Oh, yeah, Luna Lovegood. She's a year behind us but in Theresa's house."

"Does anyone else know that you and Tess are together?" Snape asked idly. He had let go of Draco's arm by now.

"Ginny Weasley, I think," Draco said. "And her mother and father and the twins, Fred and George . . . she may have told Ron Weasley too, but other than that I don't think anyone. Perhaps Raven."

Snape's eyes widened and a look came over his features that was so unusual for him that it took a moment for Draco to realize that it was soft. "Raven passed away," he said quietly.

Draco's eyes widened. "No," he gasped. His heart was already breaking for Theresa.

"And Quinn got away," Snape rasped. He looked terrible.

"My God," Draco whispered. The cat started slipping from his arms and he tightened his grip. It meowed in protest.

"Go to your dormitory," Snape said, weary. "Get a good night's sleep."

"Yes, sir," Draco said. He headed off for the dungeons.

When he got there, Pansy Parkinson was standing in front of the entrance to the boys' dormitories. Draco didn't feel like dealing with her. He Stunned her, or rather he tried to, but she had already put a Shield Charm up in front of her. He tried to Stun her again, but she blocked it again.

"Get out of my way," he snarled, dropping the kitten and preparing for a real fight.

"Hands off, Malfoy," Blaise Zabini's voice shouted. Draco Stunned him nonverbally over his shoulder. There was a thud.

Pansy rushed at Draco and kissed him. Instantly Draco was shoving her away, horrified and disgusted. "Get away from me!"

Pansy tried to kiss him again, but Draco had her at wandpoint by now. "Drop the act, Draco," she said. "We all know you love me."

"The _hell_ I do," Draco gasped, resisting the urge to use Sectumsempra on her. It was a very strong urge and it was very hard to resist.

Pansy only looked a little bit hurt. "Draco—YEEOW!"

Draco looked down. The kitten had raked its claws down Pansy's calf, and now the Slytherin was hopping around on one foot. Draco scooped up the kitten before Pansy decided to hex it and hurried into his dormitory.

"That cat—!" Pansy spluttered loudly after him. He shut the door in her face, leaned back against it, and locked it, then put an Anti-Unlocking Charm on it. He tried to calm his breathing.

He unpacked all his things and stowed his broom in the niche above his bed. He was just about to settle down for a good read (Theresa had bought him a book about an assassin) when he heard a small shout.

Then the door exploded.

Pansy stormed in. The kitten had been resting on the foot of Draco's bed; now it leaped at the intruder, snarling. Pansy Stunned it out of the air. She wrenched the book from Draco's hands, ripped it in half, and dragged Draco out into the common room, her wand at his throat. He was too shocked to do anything, and his wand was still on his bed.

"DRACO AND I ARE TOGETHER," Pansy shouted at the entire common room. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

She kissed him, her wand still at his throat. Draco tried to pull away but she drove the point of her wand into his larynx and he choked.

Someone wolf whistled.

A plan formed in Draco's head.

He put his hand on Pansy's shoulder, pretending to trace her arm lovingly. When he got to her fingers, he ripped her wand out of her hands and snapped it in half. "Leave me alone," he spat.

Pansy stared at the remnants of her wand, which were clutched in Draco's hands. She looked around at the shocked, silent crowd. "It's all good," she said, and kissed Draco again. He was so unprepared that he let her.

Someone in the crowd wolf whistled again. Draco grabbed Pansy's arm and, with strength he didn't know he had, judo-flipped her over his shoulder.

"DRACO, DUCK!" someone in the surrounding crowd screamed. He dropped to the floor as a jet of red light flashed over his head. Blaise Zabini was back on his feet, his face contorted with rage.

Draco grabbed Pansy and hauled her in front of him as Zabini altered his aim. The next Stun hit Pansy. Draco scrambled to his feet, ducked again, and dove into the crowd. A second year went down, thanks to Zabini's horrible aim.

Draco shot into the dormitories, then tripped over his kitten as it tried to streak past him down the steps. It was holding his wand in its mouth. It dropped it in front of him, meowed urgently, and took off back up the steps. Confused but gratified, Draco snatched up his wand and turned around just in time to block Zabini's next Stun.

Then Zabini spun and shot another Stun and Pansy, even though she'd already been Stunned. Draco bit his lip, confused.

Zabini continued to Stun Pansy, looking utterly demented. Draco broke out of the crowd. "Blaise, stop!"

Zabini ignored him.

"You're going to kill her," Draco shouted, wincing as yet another Stun hit Pansy.

When Blaise didn't stop, Draco Stunned him twice. "Get her to the hospital wing," he snapped at a nearby group of third years, who scurried into action. He walked over to Blaise and shook his head in disgust. "Leave me alone," he called to the others in the common room. "I'm sick of this place," he muttered, heading up the stairs to the dormitory. He found a random rock in the dormitory room corner and Transfigured it into a door, which he put in place and put an Anti-Girls and Anti-Explosion Charm on. Then he locked it. And put an Anti-Unlocking Charm on it.

He flopped onto his bed and stared at the remnants of the book Theresa had gotten him. How was he going to explain that? _Hi, Theresa, can you buy me another one of those assassin books you bought me, because Pansy ripped it in half in her haste to kiss me_. Yeah. That would work perfectly.

He cursed, punching his pillow, and decided to take a walk out on the grounds. He stalked through the common room, ignoring the whispers that followed in his wake, and headed out to the lake. As he was walking past a group of girls, they giggled and batted their eyelashes at him. Was it just now that they were starting to do that, or had they always giggled and batted their eyelashes at him and he hadn't noticed until he got a girlfriend? He glowered at them, hoping to discourage them, but that made them bat their eyelashes more and giggle harder.

It wasn't until he was walking through the forest to get to the lake that he realized his kitten was padding along calmly beside him. He realized he needed a name for it and picked it up. "Hey, what about Rocky?"

The cat gave him a skeptical look, which he didn't think was possible for a cat.

"Jeez . . ." Draco looked around for inspiration. "Cloud. Fog. Storm. Slate. Dead Grass—"

The cat meowed.

"Dead Grass?" Draco exclaimed. "Really?"

The cat hissed at him.

"Cloud?" Draco guessed.

Glare.

"Fog."

Snarl.

"Storm."

Its claws came out, pricking his arms.

"OW! Slate?"

The kitten purred and snuggled up against his chest. Draco shrugged. "Slate it is, then."

Draco walked and walked and walked until he reached the lake. There he put Slate down and watched the kitten frolic in the shallows from a fallen tree.

He was sitting there three days later, breathing in the cool fresh air, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around, but no one was there.

"Nice cat."

He jumped to his feet and turned around. Theresa was crouching next to Slate, stroking the cat's head. Slate was purring so loud Draco could hear it from at least fifteen feet away.

"I thought you were staying with the family," Draco said.

Theresa picked up the kitten and scratched its ears. She had yet to look at him. "I changed my mind. Indigo was busy and her husband had no clue who I was. Alexa and Sadie . . . well, they got annoying fast."

"Your mom didn't want to talk to you?" Draco asked.

"Oh, she did," Theresa responded. "She didn't have the time. And besides. If she wants to talk to me, I'm available by owl."

"What about the rule? No owls in or out of the school?"

"Dad's gonna have to deal with it." Her tone was dark. "So . . . there's a rumor flying around."

"What?" Draco felt a sneer cross his face. "The famous Harry Potter is coming back to school? Too stupid to face You-Know-Who, so he's coming back to learn more?"

"That you and Pansy are together," Theresa interrupted, finally facing him. She looked murderous and upset at the same time. Slate dropped from her arms and ran to Draco, mewling.

He ignored the cat and laughed. "What a weak rumor."

"So you are?" Theresa demanded, slowly backing away from him. Unfortunately for her, backing away from Draco meant backing into the lake. She stopped when her feet got wet.

Draco laughed again. "Are you crazy? When I got back, Pansy had broken up with Blaise Zabini and tried to kiss me. I didn't let her. I unpacked and such, and then the freaking door exploded and Pansy dragged me out in front of all the Slytherins and kissed me . . . three times, I think. I broke her wand."

"So you counted how many times she kissed you?" Theresa said, shouting now. "You liked it so much that you counted?"

"She had me at wandpoint," Draco protested. "I hate her, Theresa, I hate her so much I threw her on the _stone floor_. Like, _over my shoulder_."

Slate let out a sudden yowl. Draco looked down. The kitten was staring towards the castle. Draco looked along the beach. Someone was running towards them.

"Dear Lord," Draco muttered, recognizing the figure.

He started walking, then broke into a wand, his hand delving into his robes for his wand. Theresa ran after him. "Who is it?"

"Pansy," Draco called over his shoulder. When he reached the girl he stuck his wand in her face. "Stay. Out. Of. My. LIFE!"

"What are you doing with that Ravenclaw?" Pansy asked.

Theresa walked up to the two Slytherins, Slate trotting at her heels. "Pansy," she greeted icily.

"Stay away from my boyfriend," Pansy hissed, getting right up in Theresa's face.

"OH GOOD GOD," Draco yelled. He Stunned Pansy, leaving her to crumple to the dirt, and started dragging Theresa up to the school.

A/N: Someone's getting jealous . . . :)


	18. Chapter 18

TESS/THERESA

Tess was a little nervous.

Draco was angrier than she'd ever seen him. He was dragging her up to the school, muttering things about stupid rumors and idiot third years. The grip on her arm was very tight, a sure sign of fury.

He led her into the castle and shoved her in a niche in the wall. "Any minute now," he said, his voice dangerously low. Then he must have heard something, for he turned to Tess and kissed her.

Tess was a little surprised, but if he was kissing her then he probably wasn't actually Pansy Parkinson's boyfriend, which meant that he wasn't just using her, which was good. She didn't want to go through the turmoil of breaking up with someone. She slowly put one of her arms around Draco's middle, while the other hand crept up his chest to his shoulder.

People started walking past, and Tess realized that they'd just gotten out of lunch. She heard surprised whispers, some _eeew_'s, and a lot of gasps. Draco pulled away and whispered, "See? End to the rumors." He kissed her again, and Tess, more prepared this time, kissed him back.

"Theresa," Draco said, "I have something to tell you . . ."

Tess blinked at him. They were sitting across from one another at Ravenclaw table during dinner, sharing a dish of cheese chili. It was something very American, but Tess had wanted to try it, so the elves in the kitchen had prepared it.

Draco was looking distinctly uncomfortable. He swallowed, stabbing the same piece of chicken in the bowl over and over again with his fork. His gray eyes lifted. If Tess hadn't known better, she would have thought that she saw guilt and sadness in them.

"What's wrong?" she asked, just to be sure.

Draco looked down at his plate. "Tess . . . your friend, Raven . . ."

Tess felt her eyes widen, a hollow feeling entering her bones. "No . . ."

"I'm sorry," Draco whispered. "She . . . the curse."

A wave of rage washed over Tess and she stood up. "Qui—Jefferies is going _DOWN_." She hopped over the bench and offered her hand to Draco across the table. "I'm going to find as many spells as possible to use on that *cough*. Would you like to come with me?"

A faint smile passed over Draco's face. "I would like nothing better," he said, taking Tess's hand briefly. "Library?"

"Room Number Two," Tess exclaimed incredulously. "Duh."

In the second Room of Requirement, they stayed up way later than they should have. They also had a pillow fight with couch pillows, until Tess whacked Draco in the chest and he doubled over, squeaking with pain. (Tess had to laugh at the squeak because it was so unlike him.)

April came and went. On May 1st, they stayed up long into the night hours. Tess fell asleep with her head on a book. She was woken by a large crash and a scream of "COWARD" from outside the door. Draco was already standing up, poised for action, his wand in hand.

Tess drew her wand and crept up the ladder. Keeping her head very close to the floor of the hall, she peeked outside the Room of Requirement Number Two just in time to see Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood emerge from seemingly out of nowhere and rush into a classroom.

"Come on," she hissed over her shoulder at Draco. She hopped out of the wall and peered around the corner of the classroom. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, and Slughorn were looking out of a window with Harry and Luna.

Tess decided to make her presence known. "You're back, Harry," she said, moving into the doorway.

Behind her, she heard Draco make a low noise of disgust. She reached back and found his hand, twining her fingers with his.

Everyone in the room spun. Harry looked surprised, then somewhat revolted, then impassive, when he saw Tess holding hands with Draco. Luna smiled.

"Miss Wilford . . . Malfoy," Flitwick said slowly. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"We've been researching the entire night," Tess explained. "When we heard the commotion, we decided to come out here. Are we going to fight Voldemort?"

"I am," Harry corrected. "No one else is."

"Excuse me, Potter?" Harry's Head of House turned on him with a stern glare. "We will help you fight."

"Everyone of age," Flitwick said.

Suddenly Harry gasped, his hand flying to his scar. "Volde—You-Know-Who's coming!"

"Preparations," McGonagall snapped, eyes blazing. "Horace, collect the students and bring them to the Great Hall. Filius, Pomona, start protecting the school with the necessary charms. Potter, go look for that Horcrux."

She glanced at Luna and Tess and Draco in turn. "Go to the Great Hall."

"We could do something," Tess protested.

"Great. Hall," McGonagall commanded.

Luna joined Tess and Draco. "We should probably run."

Tess agreed. Luna took the lead, but when they reached the entrance to the Great Hall she flew past it. Harry pulled up on Tess's side, gave her a nod, shot Draco a half-glare, and overtook them, reaching Luna. "Where are you going?"

"The Room of Requirement, of course," Luna said, managing to sound dreamy even when running.

"Right," Harry said.

They reached the Room of Requirement to find it packed full of people. Draco saw this and muttered, "I'll be outside."

Tess had seen Ginny talking with a brown-haired Gryffindor and nodded once at Draco before jogging over. "Ivy, is it?" she asked the Gryffindor.

"Yeah," the girl said, "and you're Tess, right?"

"Nice to meet you," Tess said. "Ginny, are you going to be fighting?"

"Shh," Ginny said, her eyes flaring. She lowered her voice. "Yes, but don't tell my mum, she made me promise I would stay in here. I was crossing my fingers, of course."

"Of course," Ivy said, grinning. She saw someone over Tess's shoulder and gave a small gasp of excitement. "Fred!"

She pushed past Tess, who turned to watch her embrace one of the Weasley twins fiercely. "Hey, Day—. . . I mean, Ivy," he said.

"Oh, just call me Daya," Ivy said, pushing at his chest. "The secret's got to get out someday."

Tess was puzzled by this but chose not to ask. "Are you scared?"

"Nervous, more," Ginny admitted. "You?"

"I don't think it's quite sunk in yet," Tess said. "I'm mostly feeling adrenalized."

Ginny shrugged.

The voice of Professor McGonagall echoed through the room. "All students report to the Great Hall at once!"

Tess pushed through the crowd, Ginny and Luna on her heels. Outside, Draco was nowhere in sight. A spark of fear drifted up in her and she sent her Patronus to find him and report back, then raced after Ginny and Luna.

In the Great Hall, McGonagall said that all underage wizards who did not want to participate could leave, escorted by Madam Pomfrey and Caretaker Filch through the passage to the Hog's Head Inn in the Room of Requirement.

Suddenly a voice that could only be Voldemort's echoed through the Great Hall. "I know that you are preparing to fight," he said. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter, and they shall not be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

Pansy Parkinson saw Harry, at the front of the Gryffindors. "Grab him," she shrieked.

As one, the Gryffindors all rose and pointed their wands at the Slytherins. Noting a feeling of exhilaration rising up in her, Tess stood also, her wand specifically aimed at Pansy, followed by Luna and all the other Ravenclaws. Hufflepuff followed suit.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Slytherin house will also be evacuated, aside from those of age who wish to stay. The Horcrux, Mr. Potter!"

Harry nodded and dashed from the room.

The Slytherins started filing out, towards the passage to the Hog's Head. Tess stood on tiptoes, hating her short height, and tried to find Draco's pale hair in the group. She couldn't.

"McGonagall's calling you," said Luna quietly. Tess went to the professor. Also with the Gryffindor head of House were Ginny, Neville Longbottom, and Seamus Finnigan. "Go down and destroy the wooden bridge," she commanded. "Hurry, there isn't much time."

"Come on," Neville commanded, suddenly looking very much like a Gryffindor. He turned and ran from the Great Hall. Tess was the first to follow.

They were almost at the bridge when the castle shook. Now Tess felt the nervousness, the fear. This was real.

"Someone's got to go across and destroy it from the other side," Neville gasped upon reaching the bridge. "It's way too long!"

Tess wasn't sure why she stepped up, raising her hand. "I'll do it."

"No way," Neville and Seamus said instantly, turning their backs on the bridge to bar her way.

"What?" Tess challenged. "You think a girl isn't capable of blowing something up? Look at her!" She pointed at Ginny. "She's better at the Reductor Curse than the person who taught it to her!"

She pushed past them and marched across the bridge.

"How will you get back across?" Ginny demanded.

"I'll think of something," Tess said.

She jogged to the end of the bridge.

"On three," Ginny told her, shouting to be heard.

"Okay," Tess shouted back.

"One . . . two . . . thr—"

"LOOK OUT," Neville bellowed, dashing past Ginny, throwing her behind him, and rushing across the bridge. "_Stupefy!_"

Tess ducked, as Neville probably knew she would. There was a thud behind her and she spun, ready to duel.

"Get back," Neville shouted, blocking a spell that came from the darkness and retaliating.

Tess backed up until she hit Ginny.

The person in the darkness cast a fiery looking spell. The Blasting Charm.

"NEVILLE," Ginny screamed, coming to the same conclusion, "COME BACK HERE!"

Snatchers were pouring onto the bridge. Neville Stunned his way through them with incredible speed. Even as the middle of the bridge exploded, he jumped. The Snatchers all fell into the ravine below. Tess gasped, wincing.

"Neville?" Ginny said in a small voice.

A hand appeared at one of the bridge's supports.

"Neville!" Tess squeaked. She rushed forward. Neville was holding onto the last intact beam before the charred parts of the bridge. She leaned down and grasped his upper arm. Together, she, Ginny, and Seamus managed to pull him onto the bridge. He lay on the wooden slats of the bridge, panting, blood streaming from a cut on his head beneath his hair. Then he scrambled to his feet, swaying a little. "We need to get back there."

Tess grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Sit down for a moment."

"I already did," Neville protested.

"You might have a concussion," Tess snapped. "Sit down."

Neville sat. Tess crouched and carefully peeled back layers of his hair until she found the cut. She touched it. Neville flinched.

"_Episkey_," Tess murmured, pointing her wand at the cut. It sealed up most of the way. "Okay. Now you can stand up."

They were rushing through the castle when one of the windows shattered and three Death Eaters flew in. Ginny Stunned one, Seamus blew apart the floor at another's feet, and Tess performed the Full-Body Bind on the last. They stole the wands. Ginny was about to break one over her knee when Tess stopped her. "Others will lose their wands. You should keep them."

Ginny stuck them in the waistband of her jeans. "Let's go!"

"Uh . . . guys?" Neville said. He was looking out the shattered window. "We've got a slight problem. The defenses around the school are gone."

Tess felt a bolt of stark fear, even though she was pumped and ready to kill Death Eaters. _Draco_, she thought. "I need to get to the Room of Requirement," she said. "You guys go!"

She ran for the Room of Requirement, meeting up with Percy and Fred Weasley. Fred seemed to be looking for someone; probably Ivy.

They burst around the corner to two Death Eaters. Fred and Percy took them on, dueling viciously. Tess hung back, offering help when needed. The hood of the Death Eater Percy was battling slipped down, revealing the Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse. "Hey, Minister," Percy shouted, hitting him with a sea urchin jinx. Tess noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione in front of the Room of Requirement door.

Tess wasn't sure what alerted her. Maybe it was a faint voice shouting the Blasting Charm: maybe it was instinct. She leaped in front of Fred and shrieked, "_PROTEGO DUO_!"

The wall exploded just as her Shield Charm went up. Large chunks of stone and rubble pounded against the shield, but Tess was not standing down. She kept the charm up until the dust cleared.

Fred was staring at her with amazement. "Wha . . . how . . ."

Tess quirked an eyebrow. "You're welcome."

There was a shout from the end of the hallway. Ivy rounded the corner and flung herself at Fred so hard he stumbled backwards.

"Percy," Ron's voice shouted.

Tess looked around for the redhead Minister's assistant, but Percy was nowhere to be seen.

Fred shoved Ivy away, his gaze hardening. "I'll make those Death Eaters wish they were never born," he vowed.

He shot off down the hall, Ivy careening after him.

Harry came up to Tess. "That was brilliant," he told her quietly. "And for my friend's sake, thank you."

"Which way did Draco go?" Tess demanded.

Harry pointed.

Tess ran. She fled past at least six Death Eaters, who barely even noticed her. She was running up a staircase when she saw Draco. He was being held at wandpoint by a Death Eater and pleading that he was on their side.

Tess fired six different spells at the Death Eater. The first one bounced off.

Draco tugged at his turtleneck and was turning to Tess when someone invisible punched him in the face, making him fall to the floor with the force packed behind it. "Thank her, you scumbag," a voice a lot like Ron's hissed.

"Not necessary," Tess muttered, taking the stairs three at a time to reach her boyfriend. There was a whispered word of apology.

Draco staggered to his feet, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. "I suppose I deserved that," he admitted quietly.

Tess reached his side and put a hand on his arm. "What do you mean?"

Draco sank to the floor, resting his forearms on his knees, and leaned against the wall. "I've been nothing but a pain since I saw them. I deserve a hell of a lot more than a single punch—two, if you count Mudblood Granger—I mean, Granger"—he corrected himself quickly at Tess's death glare—"slapping me in third year. I deserved the Sectumsempra curse. I deserve—"

"Shh," Tess whispered, hearing something. She'd stayed on her feet. "Someone's coming."

Draco staggered up again. His knuckles were white from gripping his wand so tightly. Footsteps could be heard.

Then someone shrieked a curse word, and sounds of magic followed. Tess was trotting down the staircase as fast as she could before Draco could stop her. The steps were too small to run down properly.

"Tess—" Draco called, sounding panicked.

Tess cast a Shield Charm in front of her and turned. "Do you want to defend this school or not, Draco? It's been your home and mine for the past seven years. Don't let it go to waste."

She turned and saw Neville and Dean Thomas battling four Death Eaters, somehow managing, but the opponents could not land a hit on each other. It looked to Tess like Neville was having more trouble, so she sent a Stun down at one of the Death Eaters. He fell. The other Death Eater Neville was battling turned, and Neville threw some sort of plant at him. It wrapped around his throat.

Neville moved on to the Death Eaters battling Dean. They went down quickly. "You guys good?" Tess shouted down.

"Fine," Neville answered.

Dean's eyes widened and he pointed wordlessly up the stairs.

Tess looked up. Draco was standing in front of four Death Eaters.

"Draco," one of them said. "Good. You're helping. Finish them off." He pointed.

"Go to hell," Draco spat, and cursed one of them. Tess, bounding up the stairs, shot three with a Stun. They were all blocked.

The Death Eaters forced them down the stairs, but then Neville and Dean joined Tess and Draco, fighting with more determination than ever. The Death Eaters fell one by one.

Tess was by now bleeding in several places and thoroughly exhausted. What she needed was a long nap. When Voldemort's voice echoed through the castle again, she hardly listened.

"An armistice," Neville exclaimed. Blood was pouring down the side of his face once more. The cut in his hair must have reopened. "Why would he call an armistice?"

"One hour to surrender Harry Potter, or die," Dean murmured.

Tess looked at Draco, noticed a cut above his eyebrow. She dabbed at it with her fingers, making him wince. "One hour to treat the injured," Draco muttered. "Treat your dead with dignity."

His gray eyes were full of emotional confusion. Neville and Dean must have sensed that he wanted to talk to Tess alone, because they faded into the background. Tess pushed Draco's hair out of his face. "What's wrong?"

"The only reason I became a Death Eater was to keep my family safe," Draco whispered. "If I didn't, they'd die. And now they may well die anyway. What if I'm forced to choose? Between family and here?" He gestured around at the ruined castle. "Family and good? Family and you? Which path can I take?"

"You won't," Tess assured him, hoping it was true. "You'll be fine."

Draco stared down at her. "Whatever happens, promise we won't split up. Promise you'll stay right by my side."

Tess felt her heart squeeze and she choked up, unable to speak.

"Promise!" Draco pleaded.

Tess found her voice. "I promise."


	19. Chapter 19

DRACO

Draco closed his eyes. "Could you check out the cut above my eyebrow? It's killing me."

Theresa tapped it with her wand, muttering a spell. Draco felt his cut close up and he sighed as the pain faded. "I love you."

Theresa kissed him. The feeling of her lips on his lingered long after she had pulled back and breathed, "I love you too."

"We should probably go to the Great Hall," Draco muttered, slipping his hand into hers. Theresa nodded. They started walking. As they passed the rubble of the courtyard, Draco spotted a mass of black heading towards them. "Theresa," he gasped, pointing.

"Death Eaters," Theresa growled. "Stay here, I'll be back in a moment."

She took off running. Draco, after a moment of hesitation, ran after her.

They skidded into the Great Hall and Theresa was already talking. "Death Eaters, approaching the castle across the bridge," she shouted.

Chaos erupted.

Then a voice sounded, a voice Draco knew altogether too well. "Harry Potter is dead," announced Voldemort. "He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone. The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as well every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before him, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."

Silence had fallen through the Great Hall while Voldemort was speaking. Now it was broken by a single shriek, uttered by Hermione Granger. "HARRY!"

Neville was the first to move. "Well, we've got to meet them, don't we?" he said, and started limping past Draco and Theresa, towards the courtyard. Ron and Hermione followed close behind, trailed by Ginny and Arthur Weasley.

Draco turned and, grasping Theresa's hand firmly in his, went with the stream of people. He caught several disgusted looks, but Theresa whispered to the people around them that he'd taken down four Death Eaters, and the angry glances stopped.

Outside, the gamekeeper Hagrid was holding Harry Potter's lifeless body. Draco felt a twinge of emotion. He thought he would be glad at this, but he just felt despair. It was over.

"Harry Potter is dead!" Voldemort cried.

"No!" Ginny screamed, charging Voldemort (until her father pulled her back), while Ron gave a bellow of defiance and Hermione collapsed onto his shoulder, sobbing. Voldemort shouted for silence.

"Harry Potter is dead," he went on. "From this day forth, you put your faith in me. Harry Potter is dead! And now is the time to declare yourself."

Draco's stomach lurched. No.

"Come forward and join us," Voldemort said, "or die."

No.

"Draco!"

His father's hoarse voice filled the silence, and everyone turned to look at Draco.

"Draco," Lucius repeated, more quietly, holding out his hand.

Draco glanced from side to side, down at Theresa, swallowed. She'd said this wouldn't happen . . . she said . . .

But safety. All he wanted was for the people he loved to be safe. He stared at his parents, willing them not to do this to him. Not to choose between them and Theresa. Damn it to hell, why him?

"Draco," Narcissa said.

Draco looked at Theresa. Her eyes were full of understanding. Pain and understanding. She blinked at him sadly.

Draco swallowed and made up his mind. "Love you," he whispered to Theresa. "I'll find you. Promise."

"Promise," Theresa croaked.

Draco stepped down from the rubble he was standing on and made his way across the courtyard. Voldemort embraced him. "Well done, Draco, well done."

_Get away from me, you slimy bald freak_, Draco thought, stiffening. It was glorious relief when he was able to step away from the Dark Lord and join his parents. He met Theresa's gaze across the gap and they watched each other.

Then, surprisingly, Neville limped forward. Draco felt his brow crease. Neville? He'd been the brave one.

"Well," Voldemort said, "I must say I'd hoped for better."

The Death Eaters laughed. Draco kept his mouth clamped shut.

"And who might you be, young man?" Voldemort asked, approaching Neville.

"Neville Longbottom," Neville answered almost inaudibly.

The Death Eaters laughed again, and even Voldemort was smiling as he spoke. "Well, Neville, I'm sure we can find a place for you in our ranks."

"I'd like to say something," Neville said loudly.

"I'm sure we'd all be fascinated by what you have so say," Voldemort said after a moment of hesitation.

"It doesn't matter that Harry's gone," Neville said.

"Stand down, Neville," an Irish Gryffindor said instantly.

"People die every day," Neville continued, turning to the Hogwarts attenders. "Friends. Family. Yeah . . . we lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us, in here." He lifted his hand to his chest. "We lost Fred . . . Remus, Tonks . . . all of them. But they didn't die in vain. But you will," he near shouted, turning back to Voldemort (who was smiling). "Because you're wrong! Harry's heart did beat for us, for all of us. But it's not over!" As he said this, he lifted something—it was the _Sorting Hat_, of all things—and drew a silver sword from it, with rubies studded in the handle.

There was a commotion from over where Hagrid was standing. Harry Potter tumbled from the half giant's arms, landing with a grunt, and scrambled to his feet. "_Confringo_," he shouted, pointing his wand at Voldemort's snake Nagini. It ricocheted off and collided with the Death Eaters on the right of the group. People on the Hogwarts side started gasping, smiling, and exclaiming. Harry dove into the open corridor and ran.

Death Eaters started Apparating in clouds of smoke. Narcissa grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him back, away from the fighting and chaos. He glanced over at his shoulder, saw Theresa.

"Mom, Dad, go ahead," he said all of a sudden, as Voldemort was casting explosion spells at the open hall Harry was running down. "I need to . . . stay here."

Narcissa stared at him like he was insane.

"I'll find you after it's all over," Draco promised. "I need to stay. Go!"

He broke free of his mother's hands, pushed past his father, and ran across the courtyard to join Theresa.

People were streaming into the castle. Theresa's hand was wrenched from Draco's. Being somewhat taller than many others in the rush, Draco was able to look around for her, but he couldn't see her.

Death Eaters began shattering through the windows. Draco managed to Stun one before it even stopped flying around in the cloud of black smoke.

Then the crowd of people scattered into duels and Draco was fighting a Death Eater he recognized to be Crabbe Sr. "Hey, Crabbe," he shouted, sending a whirl of spells at him, "d'you know your son's dead? Killed by Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement!"

Crabbe paused. Draco's next curse hit him in the stomach and he fell over backwards.

Draco was turning to look for someone else to help when someone slammed into him, their arm crossing over his kidneys and effectively bringing him to the floor. It was Theresa, grinning broadly. "Hello, young sir," she said, and Transfigured some nearby rocks into American footballs. "Do you know how to throw one of these?"

"No . . ."

Theresa's grin took on an evil tone. "You are missing out on life." She scrambled to her feet and drew back her arm. Her features hardened, her eyes focusing on some target Draco couldn't see. Then her arm flashed forward, almost faster than his eyes could follow, and the football left her hand. There was a shout of pain and Theresa dropped back down. "I hit Goyle's dad. Hope you don't mind."

Draco pointed at the unconscious Crabbe. "Not in the least."

Theresa stood and offered him a hand. Draco switched wand hands and pulled himself up.

Nearby, he heard someone shout Sectumsempra. It was a Death Eater, aiming for Fred Weasley, who was already dueling someone else. It hit Fred's left ear. Draco moved to take over, but the same brown-haired girl who he'd mistaken for Theresa a long time ago leaped in front of the bleeding Weasley and, like an enraged cat, blocked the Death Eater's spells with her wand. One of them was so forceful that her wand broke. Again, Draco tensed, ready to help, but the girl had it under control. She flipped over the next three spells and landed a neat kick to the throat on the Death Eater, then used his shoulders as a springboard, flipped over his head, and slammed both feet into his kidneys. The Death Eater keeled over. The girl landed, picked up a rock, and bashed the Death Eater's head with it.

"Holy . . ." Draco murmured.

"Did I just see that?" Theresa asked.

Draco saw a curse headed for her head and blocked it. "Yes. If we're imagining things, we're imagining the same thing."

"Duck," Theresa warned. Draco crouched as she threw a rock like a baseball, hitting a spell and exploding.

The Death Eaters were hopelessly outnumbered. This became obvious quite quickly. Theresa saved Draco's life several times by throwing footballs or rocks. Either her wand had broken or she didn't feel like using it.

Draco was saving many other people with Shield Charms. He liked this new turn of events, where he saved people instead of insulting them. It felt . . . right.

He heard someone scream his name. Casting a final Shield Charm in front of a house elf from the kitchens as it hacked at a Death Eater's ankle, he turned. Narcissa was struggling towards him through the duelers. "Draco," she shouted again.

A stray curse was flying towards her head behind her. Draco grabbed one of Theresa's rocks and threw it. Somehow it curved over her shoulder, up, and intercepted the curse, sending shards of rock shooting everywhere. Draco noted with satisfaction that one of them hit a Death Eater—Macnair?—in the eye.

Feeling a lull, Draco crouched to the floor, a wave of sleepiness coming over him. If his calculations were correct, he'd been awake for approximately twenty hours. That was not good.

"Draco," Narcissa exclaimed, bending over him. "Draco, come on, we're getting out of here."

Draco felt a surge of compassion as he looked at his mother. All she wanted was for him and her husband to be safe. "Once the battle is over, I'll find you," he said again. "But for now I'm staying with Theresa."

He gestured behind him at Theresa, who was throwing rocks into the crowd.

Narcissa raised an eyebrow. "Isn't she the Muggle-born?"

Draco shook his head. "Half blood. Please just let me do this, Mother. I don't want to be the cruel person who snaps at people anymore. I want to help."

Narcissa's eyes closed. "Then I'll stay here too."

"No," Draco exclaimed, rising to his full height (not much taller than his mother). "You can't stay here!"

"I need to keep you safe," Narcissa protested.

"Mother, I can keep myself safe," Draco insisted. "You can't keep both of us safe. Go find Father and get a new house in the Muggle world or something. Please."

"America," Narcissa murmured. "You can find us in America. Start east of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."

She slipped into the crowd and was gone. A sickening feeling sank through Draco, making him wonder if he'd ever find his family again.

Theresa suddenly snatched up his hand and dragged him to one of the windows overlooking the courtyard. "Look!"

Outside, Voldemort and Harry Potter were holding their wands at arm's length, a jet of red light coming from Harry's wand and green from Voldemort's. As Draco and Theresa watched, the red light forced Voldemort's spell back upon him. He flew backwards and lay on the ground, eyes staring at the sky without seeing, his body frozen in the position of death.

Theresa looked out the window for a split second more, then spun and shouted, with way more force than Draco ever could have imagined coming from her small form, "HARRY POTTER KILLED VOLDEMORT!"

Silence fell, and everyone froze.

Then Ron and Hermione broke free of the crowd and ran out of the Great Hall, streaking toward the courtyard. Draco turned and watched as they appeared a moment later and flung themselves at Harry.

Cheering erupted from the entirety of the school and they all streamed out of the Great Hall. The tight feeling that had been in Draco's chest since the start of the battle dissipated. He hadn't realized it was there until it went away.

Voldemort was dead.


	20. Chapter 20

**Epilogue**

TESS/THERESA

_"__Confusion never stops  
Closing walls and ticking clocks  
Gonna come back and take you home  
I could not stop that you now know, singing . . ."_

Alexa leaned forward in the car and tapped Tess on the shoulder. "Please turn this off."

_ "__Come out upon my seas_," Tess went on. "Why? It's a good song."

"It's not when you play it all the time," Sadie contradicted.

"It's not my fault it's on the radio constantly," Tess snapped.

"Girls," Indigo cautioned, taking a hand off the steering wheel to place it on Tess's arm. "Please stop arguing!"

"Okay, Mom," Tess said, resigning herself to silence. She looked out the window, into the cold, rainy, foggy Pennsylvania air. It had been a year since the Battle of Hogwarts, a Draco Malfoy-less year. Indigo had taken Tess in and they had moved to Pennsylvania to get away from all the Wizarding excitement. They still practiced magic in the safety of their own home, of course. Indigo had just decided to move away until everything calmed down a little.

They were driving through Honeybrook, which was just outside of Exton, on their way to the Muggle library. Tess peered out at the sidewalks, taking into her inventory every single person she saw. She'd seen the man in the gray suit six times in the last seven days (they went to the Muggle library a _lot_, and the post office), and was wondering if she'd see him again.

She didn't, but she did see someone in a black outfit: black dress shoes, black jeans, a black leather jacket, a black turtleneck, and a black hat over black hair. The build reminded her of someone, but she didn't know who.

And then she realized it.

"MOM," she shrieked, making Indigo yelp and pull the car sharply to the side of the road. "MOM LET ME OUT!"

"What for?" Indigo demanded. "Are you going to barf?"

Tess stared out the back window, watching the hunched figure walk further and further away. "No, let me out!" She jabbed the unlock button on the passenger door and snatched her wand off the dashboard, then skidded out of the car and took off running. As she neared the figure in black, she nearly shouted his name. But that might trigger the instinct to run away.

She pulled up beside him and pretended to look at a shop, taking in his features in her peripheral vision. Pale skin, dark eyebrows fixed in a half-glare, pointed face, and gray eyes. No one had gray eyes like that. No one but _him_.

Tess swallowed and stepped in front of him. "Excuse me, but is your name Draco Malfoy?"

He stared at her. "Who the hell are you?"

Tess tried not to feel hurt by this statement. It was definitely him. He probably didn't recognize her because she'd changed her hair, dyeing it a few shades darker and slicing it off at her chin. They'd both tried to change their appearances. She decided to answer truthfully. "Theresa Emily Mica Eleanor Olive Ingrid Wilford-Jacques."

He stared down at her. "How did you find me?"

"I wasn't looking for you," Tess snapped. "You're the one who walked away from me at the end of the battle. Did you realize how much it hurt?"

"It hurt me too," Draco said. "I wanted to make sure my family was safe, though."

Tess nodded. "Yup. I understand. And then you _left_, just BAM out-of-here-bye. What did you do to your hair?"

Draco reached up, fingering the dark strands. "I dyed it. So did you. Your hair, I mean, not mine."

"Tess," Indigo called.

"Look," Tess said hurriedly. "My mom doesn't like me hanging out with wizards other than her and Sadie and Alexa. Give me your phone number, your address, your email, whatever, and we can keep in touch that way."

"I don't have any of those," Draco said, glancing swiftly over his shoulder. "But I can meet you at the library any day of the week between one and six."

"Tuesday," Tess decided. "Meet me there or you're bacon. See you!"

She stepped around him and dashed back down the sidewalk to her mother and waiting adopted sisters.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE LYRICS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.

A/N: Oh, goodness, is it over already? It took me about three weeks to write and maybe two days to upload. You guys have been supportive and kind with your reviews, so just a huge thank-you to everyone who has read this. You're amazing! I hope to be writing again soon, so keep an eye out for my work, please! :)


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